joke_slayer Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Well, its less than 2 weeks to go till the rugby world cup in New Zealand (so fun time conversions for everyone =P), so I thought i'd start a thread about it for discussions, and maybe to bring it to the attention of people who might not know too much about it. The 20 teams taking part ar divided into 4 groups of 5, with the top 2 teams in each group qualifying for the quarter finals, and the top 3 qualifying for the next world cup in 2015 The groups are as follows: Pool A: New Zealand FranceTongaCanada Japan Pool B:ArgentinaEnglandScotlandGeorgiaRomania Pool C:AustraliaIrelandItalyUSARussia Pool D: South AfricaWalesSamoaFijiNamibia And now for my predictions: Pool AI expect New Zealand to win the group, and France to come second, though with the French in rugby you can never be too sure, I wouldn't put it wouldn't surprise me if they either convincingly win against New Zealand, or convincingly lose to Tonga (who have been performing well recently), with Japan 4th and Canada 5th Pool BI'm expecting England to win this group, and based off recent performances, I think Scotland should be able to beat Argentina for second. Georgia should manage 4th, but I would expect them to give at least one of the bigger teams in the group a big scare, if not get an upset win, while Romania should be 5th Pool CBased on recent performance Australia should quite easily win this group. Even though they haven't played well in the build up to the world cup so far, Ireland should still manage to beat Italy to second (although I hope its the other way round, and based on the last encounter between the two sides that is also entirely possible). And USA should come in front of World Cup newcommers Russia Pool DThis pool is very difficult to call with 4 teams who have a good chance of making it to the quartersSouth Africa on paper are the best team in this group, but have been underperforming for a while now.Wales are a good team, they have some very good players and have performed well in the warm up matches, however they face Fiji and Samoa, Wales' two world cup bogey teams.Samoa have performed well recently, including a stunning victory against Australia a couple of months ago and I'd say are perfectly capable of winning against the other teams in the pool on a good day.Fiji are probably the weaker of the 4 sides (again based off recent performance), however it wouldn't surprise me to see them getting through to the next round.Sadly for Namibia I don't see them winning a game, and I feel rather sorry for them since they managed to end up in a pool with 3 teams who have a reputation for being very physical.I'd guess that the final order could be 1-Wales, 2-South Africa, 3-Samoa, 4-Fiji, 5-Namibia, but I wouldn't bet on it. Overall I'm expecting New Zealand and Australia to make it to the final, with New Zealand coming out winners in front of a home crowd (even though they do seem to have become allergic to winning the world cup).Meanwhile I think France will beat Wales in the 3rd place play-off. Any Questions/Criticism/Other stuff to discuss? EDIT: btw official site http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy_jim Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Loved watching Aus beat NZ last night (TAKE THAT JEFF AND DOOMY), though I think the NZ front rowers weren't exactly their best.. South Africa's recent failures is because they haven't played a full strength team at all most of this year, they're saving them all for the world cup, which is a bit stupid IMO. New Zealand v England final, Aus to beat France for third place RIP Michaelangelopolousu can control my tip it account, but youll never control how fine i am!This is by FAR my favorite song: I love N_odie and would never edit his posts! I love Rainy_Day too <3 And also Cowman_133. <33 Oh, and Laikrob is a going to hunt me down and kill me like a pest kangaroo if I reveal how awesome she is. I owe tripsis skittles. DarkDude feels like he's missing out. This is my siggy! - n_odie Rainy_Day MINE! - n_odie Rainy_Day And meol shouldn't feel left out. Oh, and Y_Guy is a noob awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouchy Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Loved watching Aus beat NZ last night (TAKE THAT JEFF AND DOOMY), though I think the NZ front rowers weren't exactly their best.. South Africa's recent failures is because they haven't played a full strength team at all most of this year, they're saving them all for the world cup, which is a bit stupid IMO. New Zealand v England final, Aus to beat France for third place -.- My predictions for the final are New Zealand and then either Aus, or SA. Can't really see England pulling it off. Then England and France/Aus/SA for 3rd/4th. My relaxation method involves a bottle of lotion, beautiful women, and partial nudity. Yes I get massages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doomy Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Rofl. NZ send a B team over to South Africa and we lose. Then we pull out a better to take on Aus and we still lose.I'm not a huge follower of rugby but going by our recent form and our world cup history I'm not too confident... Doomy edit: I like sheep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxx Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Aus will take the cup. There's no stopping them at the moment. NZ has never been a World Cup team, we've seen it many a time. Even in front of their home crowd i still can't see them winning. Maybe it's pressure. South Africa should quite easily take the 3rd place.South Africa just needs to pull their finger out come the world cup. We haven't been playing like the defending champions at all, but that's to be expected with our current coach. He's a real waste of space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffwilson99 Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 I approve of this thread. Australia did play well, better than I thought they could, I was pretty shocked by how long it took NZ to recover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamtaro Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Can't say I've ever watched rugby before, but I'll make an effort to watch the USA vs. Aussie game at the least. Can anyone explain to me how the rugby world cup differs from the football/soccer world cup (how many teams move on per group, knock out stage, basic rules, etc)? Player since 2004. All skills 1M+ XP."If it were possible to cure evils by lamentation..., then gold would be a less valuable thing than weeping." - Sophocles"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joke_slayer Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 Can't say I've ever watched rugby before, but I'll make an effort to watch the USA vs. Aussie game at the least. Can anyone explain to me how the rugby world cup differs from the football/soccer world cup (how many teams move on per group, knock out stage, basic rules, etc)? http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/tournamentrules/index.html i short, the two top teams move on from each group, using the point system Win - 4 pointsDraw - 2 pointsLoss - 0 points4 or more tries - 1 pointLoss by 7 points or less - 1 point and with these teams taking part in quarterfinals thus QF 1 - Winner pool C v Runner up pool DQF 2 - Winner pool B v Runner up pool AQF 3 - Winner pool D v Runner up pool CQF 4 - Winner pool A v Runner up pool B and then semifinals SF 1 - Winner QF1 v Winner QF2SF 2 - Winner QF3 v Winner QF4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffwilson99 Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Where are you from by the way Joke slayer? I'm gonna miss the first half of the opening game cos of work =( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy_jim Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Where are you from by the way Joke slayer? I'm gonna miss the first half of the opening game cos of work =(Same :( I was going to go to NZ to watch a game, but I'm going to Sydney for someone's wedding instead ff RIP Michaelangelopolousu can control my tip it account, but youll never control how fine i am!This is by FAR my favorite song: I love N_odie and would never edit his posts! I love Rainy_Day too <3 And also Cowman_133. <33 Oh, and Laikrob is a going to hunt me down and kill me like a pest kangaroo if I reveal how awesome she is. I owe tripsis skittles. DarkDude feels like he's missing out. This is my siggy! - n_odie Rainy_Day MINE! - n_odie Rainy_Day And meol shouldn't feel left out. Oh, and Y_Guy is a noob awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouchy Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 [cabbage] the city is chocka with everyone trying to watch the opening ceremony.. I was going to head down to Devenport but apparently that's already full... If you read this, how you finding it Shiny? My relaxation method involves a bottle of lotion, beautiful women, and partial nudity. Yes I get massages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy_jim Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Doubt Shiny will read this, from what I gathered he's too much of a weak girl to like sports :mrgreen: RIP Michaelangelopolousu can control my tip it account, but youll never control how fine i am!This is by FAR my favorite song: I love N_odie and would never edit his posts! I love Rainy_Day too <3 And also Cowman_133. <33 Oh, and Laikrob is a going to hunt me down and kill me like a pest kangaroo if I reveal how awesome she is. I owe tripsis skittles. DarkDude feels like he's missing out. This is my siggy! - n_odie Rainy_Day MINE! - n_odie Rainy_Day And meol shouldn't feel left out. Oh, and Y_Guy is a noob awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joke_slayer Posted September 9, 2011 Author Share Posted September 9, 2011 Where are you from by the way Joke slayer? I'm gonna miss the first half of the opening game cos of work =( well I live in England University will start in a couple of weeks, so watching the latter parts of the group stages will be tricky and I'll be cheering for Italy all the way =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouchy Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Where are you from by the way Joke slayer? I'm gonna miss the first half of the opening game cos of work =( You missed the best half :( The second half was truly a let down, but at least we won... My relaxation method involves a bottle of lotion, beautiful women, and partial nudity. Yes I get massages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffwilson99 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I got off early and saw most of it. Tonga played alright, but we dropped off a bit in the that second half. Plus about 1/4 of the second half comprised of scrums. Friggen George Clancy just needed to blow up a Penalty Try if the srums were that much of an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxx Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 England just got their Get out of jail free card. Totally did not deserve the win. Game was appalling in general to be honest. After seeing this i doubt that England will get further than the Quarter-finals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joke_slayer Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 I agree, that game was a tad disappointing, especially after the other 3 games that were on today, neither side played well, but Argentina probably deserved the win more Tonga vs New Zealand I didn't find particularly entertaining, NZ played well for the first half and it was a totally one sided affair, second half was a bit more competitive, althought I'm not sure if thats down to NZ slowing down or Tonga playing well Scotland vs Romania was an entertaining game, Scotland made a lot of errors, while the Romanian forwards were immense and caused Scotland a lot of problems, gutted for them letting those 2 tries past at the end, they deserved a better scoreline, if not a win Fiji vs Namibia was closer than what I expected, both teams played an adventurous style of rugby that is good to watch, shame that Namibia in particular made so many handling errors, or the game could have been much closer, while the Namibian 10 definatly has some good kicking boots France vs Japan was a lot closer than what I expected, was great to see Japan keeping France honest for a good 70 minutes, shame they allowed the French to score 3 tries in the last 10 minutes, they most definatly deserved a better scoreline Looking forward to the games tomorrow (and hope Italy can somehow manage and upset) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiny Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 [cabbage] the city is chocka with everyone trying to watch the opening ceremony.. I was going to head down to Devenport but apparently that's already full... If you read this, how you finding it Shiny? Got off school early and headed for the 4.15 ferry from Bayswater, but by the time it arrived, the ferry service was called off. Walked down to North Head instead, and got boozed up on the mountain and watched the fireworks, then retired to my house to watch the All Blacks thrash Tonga. Doubt Shiny will read this, from what I gathered he's too much of a weak girl to like sports :mrgreen: :thumbdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy_jim Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Doubt Shiny will read this, from what I gathered he's too much of a weak girl to like sports :mrgreen: :thumbdown:Dammit Aus to win tomorrow like usual :shades: RIP Michaelangelopolousu can control my tip it account, but youll never control how fine i am!This is by FAR my favorite song: I love N_odie and would never edit his posts! I love Rainy_Day too <3 And also Cowman_133. <33 Oh, and Laikrob is a going to hunt me down and kill me like a pest kangaroo if I reveal how awesome she is. I owe tripsis skittles. DarkDude feels like he's missing out. This is my siggy! - n_odie Rainy_Day MINE! - n_odie Rainy_Day And meol shouldn't feel left out. Oh, and Y_Guy is a noob awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joke_slayer Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 Wales vs SA was a great game, Wales played really well much better than the boks, but I get the feeling that the ref made some terrible decision towards the end of the gameGoing to be really interesting to see the rest of the games between SA, Wales, Fiji and Samoa At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see Wales in the semis at least Speaking on the other games Italy really impressed me in the first half against Australia, Semenzato (scrum half) was very good and it certainly looks like we have finally found a good scrum half. Shame Italy disintegrated in the second half, was expecting their fitness to be higher and not ship quite so many points, but I'd say they are capable of beating Ireland and make it to the quarters Ireland got a decent win over USA, but I'm not too sure about how well they played, I think USA did play pretty well (while their fitness lasted at least), and definatly deserved that try at the end, I reckon they might give Italy some trouble, but I suspect the only win they could get will be against Russia And wtf is up with all these missed kicks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxx Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 South Africa kicked some ass today. Was good.AlsoLOL @ AUS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joke_slayer Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 well that was a great game, who said a good game has to have tries =Pshame this made it so much more difficult for Italy to get to the quarters, but based on that performance, Ireland could go far South Africa played well, while Fiji was somewhat disappointing Argentina also looked pretty convincing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obfuscator Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Well Canada actually won a game, so I'm happy. In other news, I now have a desire to grow a massive beard. "It's not a rest for me, it's a rest for the weights." - Dom Mazzetti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doomy Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Ireland you beauty! I didn't watch the game. Ireland have taken their cricket world cup upsets over to the rugby field, love it! Doomy edit: I like sheep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_Is_Great Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Well Canada actually won a game, so I'm happy. In other news, I now have a desire to grow a massive beard. :thumbup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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