Rugby World Cup 2011

[jimmy_jim]

Is it just me or do ref's seem to be babying the players a lot more lately?

 

Do not want this to turn into soccer...

[Noxx]

Well we have at least 2 decent Quarter-Finals on our hands. SA vs. Aus is going to be an epic one. Wales vs Ireland much the same. I feel like ZN and Eng have it easy this Cup. Their road to the Semi's should be fairly easy. But i feel the team that wins the NZ/SA/Aus Semi-Final will also be taking the Cup.

 

I dount Argentina would be able to beat NZ. It would take nothing short of a miracle.

With the French's recent display, England should be having quite the easy game.

Ireland should come out on top over Wales, if they play anything like they did against Aus. Nonetheless it's going to be a close one

Aus vs SA is the only one i can't make my mind up about. With SA losing two of their key play makers it might just come back to bite them. But they have a hard week of preparation ahead of them.

 

EDIT: Uhh, forget that. After reading that Kirchner has been called up to replace Frans Steyn i pretty much lose all hope in the South African team. Kirchner doesn't know how to release the ball unless it's via the foot. And he always seems to cut back in field when there's a gap/overlap on the wing. Why, why, why?!? Why did he get called up :\

Oh well. . .

[joke_slayer]

Now that the pool stages are over, time to check my previous predictions and make predictions for the knockout stages

 

Pool A

I 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

 

Actual result: 1 - NZ, 2 - France, 3 - Tonga, 4 - Canada, 5 - Japan

NZ were very good and won very convincingly against all who played them, although now Carter is out of the world cup, and this could make a huge difference to the results in the rest of the tournament. A bad French side turned up, and somehow managed to get second even after they lost rather convincingly to Tonga, and didn't play that well against any of the other teams. Tonga came good towards the end of the pool stages after a surprising defeat to Canada that unfortunately stopped them from going through to the quarters. Canada and Japan both seemed greatly improved from last time, but still lagging behind the other teams.

 

Pool B

I'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

 

Actual result: 1 - England, 2 - Argentina, 3 - Scotland, 4 - Georgia, 5 - Romania

This group was largly underwhelming, England played poorly in 3 of their 4 games, yet somehow managed to come out on top, Argentina were unlucky to lose to England, but lucky to beat Scotland, they seem to have some good new players coming through although there are still a lot of things they need to improve on, entering the 3N will surely help them and make them much more competitive by 2015 or 2019. Scotland were very disappointing, coming within 10 minutes of losing to Romania, getting an unconvincing win against Georgia, and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in their 2 big games mean they are on their way home. Georgia were pretty good, gave both Scotland and Argentina somewhat of a scare (at least before they got tired out towards the end of the game) and played very well against England, dominating the territory in the first half of the game, and are definatly a team to watch out for in future. Romania failed to live up to expectations after pushing Scotland so close in their first game.

 

Pool C

Based 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

 

Actual result: 1 - Ireland, 2 - Australia, 3 - Italy, 4 - USA, 5 - Russia

After a terrible round of warm up games, blighted by poor results and plenty of injuries, Ireland have stumbled onto some amazing form, shocking Australia, and putting in very convincing performances against Russia and Italy. Australia managed a reasonable comfortable second, although they are in a fair bit of trouble, with plent of injuries and a tough path through the knockout stages. Italy were disappointing in that they only seemed capable of playing for the first 40-50minutes of the games, although they played very well during this time, keeping Australia on 6-6 and Ireland on 9-6 at half time, they lost out to fitter teams in the last 30-40 minutes of their games. USA were promising, beating Russia, and giving both Ireland and Italy some trouble. Russia did better than I was expecting, their defence left much to be desired, but they were very promising in attack, managing 3 tries against Italy, and 3 against Australia (which not many teams have done recetly).

 

Pool D

This pool is very difficult to call with 4 teams who have a good chance of making it to the quarters

South 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.

 

Acutual result: 1 - SA, 2 - Wales, 3 - Samoa, 4 - Fiji, 5 - Namibia

Surprisingly I was very close to getting this right (about the with of a goal post to be precise). SA played well after an unconvincing win against Wales and made it comfortably through to the final, although they have lost Frans Steyn in the process meaning they are less likely to kick those 60m penalties in tight games, which could cause them some problems. Wales were very good, they were the better team against SA, and were unlucky to lose that game imo, but were pretty convincing after that. Samoa were another very good team, they gave both Wales and SA a scare, and were unlucky to lose the ball so many times while picking and driving less than 5 meters from the tryline, had they managed to get those points they would have made it through to the quarters. Fiji were very disappointing, getting heavy losses against Samoa, Wales and SA. Namibia have shown they they have some promising young talent, but are still a long way away from challanging the established countries.

 

So basically I got none of the pools right

overall I was hoping to see some closer matches and a few more upsets after the close games of the first weekend, but generally the games have been entertaining to watch. I am disappointed not to see one of the pacific island nations progress, Samoa was pretty close, and Tonga were even closer.

 

Now for predictions:

 

QF1: Wales vs Ireland

This will be a great game I reckon, both teams have a very solid defence (with Ireland slightly in front), a good set of forwards (again Ireland slightly in front), but Wales seem to have better attacking options.

It will be a very close game, and I'll say Wales win by less than 7

 

QF2: France vs England

Both of these teams have been disappointing in the pool stages, but England still seem to pull out the results, while France just seem to collapse, will be interesting to see who Lievremont picks at 10, and which French team will show up on the day. If the French team get their act together they should win comfortably.

However I don't really see that happening so I'd say England by less than 7

 

QF3: SA vs Australia

Both of these teams have had injury problems, although I'd say Australia have been affected more than South Africa. Quade Cooper will be the key to this game, if he has a good performance Australia could win, however on such a big stage with so much pressure I think it will be more like for him to lose it (much like he did against Ireland) and cost Australia the match

SA to win by 7-14

 

QF4: NZ vs Argentina

NZ have breezed through the pool stages, Argentina had considerable, finally getting through with a late try against Scotland. Both teams have had injury problems, but I still don't see Argentina giving NZ too many problems.

Even without Carter, New Zealand should still win this comfortably by 20+ points

 

and now for pure speculation

 

SF1: Wales vs England

These teams played each other twice in the warm ups, both teams winning one. Since then England have stagnated, while Wales have just kept on growing. England seem to have a habit of pulling results out of nowhere when it really matters, but then again Wales always seem to find an extra gear when they play their big rivals England.

I'd say Wales to win by 7-14

 

SF2: SA vs NZ

This will be a titanic struggle, SA trying to become the first team to retain the world cup, while NZ wanting a long overdue victory. In August I would have said NZ would easily win this, however after they lost against SA in the 3N, and now that Carter is out, from what I can tell it will be up to Slade to play 10. From what I have seen of him he still has a long way to go to reach a level similar to that of Carter, he has made a lot of mistakes, and doesn't have a good kicking record at this world cup, which will prove crucial in such a game. Whats even worse for Slade is that he will have so much pressure on his shoulders from the home fans.

In my opinion Slade will crack under all the pressure and SA will win by less than 7

 

3rd place play-off: NZ vs England

Considering the mental state of both teams after losing in the semis, this would be a tough one to call. If there wasn't that to consider, NZ should win comfortably, however both teams performance could be negatively affected by their previous result, and probably NZ will be affected worse than England.

Even so I'd say NZ by 7-14

 

Final: Wales vs SA

A repeat of the game in the first weekend, where SA won by 1 after Wales narrowly missed a few kicks, without Frans Steyn SA won't be able to punish Welsh indiscipline as much. Whereas the Welsh have kept on improving so far throughout this world cup, and have had important players come back from injury. I'm still not sure PDV will make the right choices when it comes to picking the team for the game.

For those reasons I'd say Wales to win by less than 7 (you heard it here first)

 

*note these are my opinions, and my opinions alone*

 

opinions? anyone agree, or think I've gone horribly wrong somewhere?

[Noxx]

You mention that we lost Frans Steyn and might not be able to kick the 60m goals. That's where we have a special weapon. Little known fact. Morne Steyn has as mighty a boot as Frans on a good day. He might not be able to kick the 60m goal but i've seen him come really close to it. And if it comes down to keeping the scoreboard ticking, we have the best combination for that. Fourie Du Preez and Morne Steyn can do some damage with a few drop goals here and there.

 

Anyway, i'm willing to bet that Ireland take out Wales. Ireland have been performing great. Although Wales seem to do well against SA, i think it's more a matter of SA slacking than Wales performing. On any good day SA would have had a runaway victory against Wales.

 

I'm almost certain Ireland will make it to the finals this year. If SA manages a win over Aus, i dont think anything is stopping them. SA will defeat NZ, maul the Irish.

If SA loses, NZ takes the cup.

[Jeffwilson99]

I think you're pretty spot on with your predictions, I fell Wales have a pretty good run to the final. Ireland have played well, but the Welsh team is packed with talent.

 

There have been a lot of injuries at the moment, so for this reason alone I don't think Australia are going to have their best team available to take on SA. As for Colin Slade, he is a classy player, but I don't think he has performed as well as he should be. I wouldn't be surprised to see Weepu getting some more game time at 1st five, he's looked good when he's played there so far.

[jimmy_jim]

I agree with Wales making it to the final, will be interesting

[Noxx]

It's hard to say this and actually believe it, but i think the better team won today. While the statistics might suggest that SA should have had a run-away victory, they lacked the ability to finish the play and get the points on the board. Aus punished us for every tiny mistake we made. Worst of all is the fact that we actually allowed them to do it. But well played. Was a game that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

[Jeffwilson99]

I thought SA would close out the game tbh. I missed the whole game cos I fell asleep this afternoon. But I watched the AB's, was good to see them have a good work out but we have quite a few injury concerns.

[jimmy_jim]

I actually thought SA played better than Aus, but in the end Aus took the chances when they presented themselves.

[doomy]

Didn't see Aus vs SA :(

 

NZ vs Argentina was definitely closer than the scores suggest (2 late game tries). Until then it was only penalties keeping us in the game. Hooray for Piri Weepu actually being able to kick. Far better then Colin Slade kicking I have to say.

[joke_slayer]

Well, after watching 3 of the quarters (overslept and missed most of SA vs Aus), I'd say that they were pretty tense.

 

Wales certainly looked dangerous, scoring 3 tries against the defense that kept Aus tryless, keeping the Irish back row at bay and performing to a very high standard for the full 80 minutes

 

It looks like the Tonga game was the kick up the backside France needed to improve their game, they started of strongly, but then stagnated a bit in the second half, but still managed to come out in front of an uninspiring England who had been underperforming throughout this world cup

 

Seems like Aus got past some of their injury problems, and showed good signs by being able to maintain the narrow winning margin at the end

 

NZ in the end got a comfortable looking scoreboard, but most of those points came late in the game when the Argentinians were tired, or from the many penalties conceded by the Argentinians, opportunities I feel they wouldn't get that many of against the other teams that are left (well depending on which French team turn up). Piri Weepu seems to have had the weight of expectation shifted onto his shoulders now, while Cruden seems to look a lot more comfortable than Slade at 10.

 

Seeing the prediction accuracy I've had so far I don't think I'll bother with them now....

 

But judging by the teams we have left we should expect 4 great games up ahead

[jimmy_jim]

Wales v France, should be a ripper

[Noxx]

So it seems the past week there has been a lot going on concerning Bryce Lawrence. People are blaming him of being inconsistent and one sided. Media says that he has officially made a joke of Rugby. His poor performance in the SA vs Aus game was a disgrace. There are petitions to stop him from ever refereeing another international game, and to be honest i hope they succeed. Either Bryce was paid to blow in Aus favor or he just has a clear hate for SA. After watching the game again several times this week i actually saw just what a hash he made of things. Pocock could have just as well been wearing a green jersey when he entered the ruck. He was coming in from the side more often than not. Not only did he come in from the side but he would kill the ball, fall off his feet, play with hands in the ruck. Sure a Ref can miss that once, but what Lawrence did was a disgrace to the game. I hope for Bryce's sake that he stays as far away from SA as possible. I don't think he would leave the place in one piece after robbing SA from the Cup.

[jimmy_jim]

I doubt SA would've gone onto win anyway, even if they had beaten Aus.

 

Wales should be annoyed at themselves for losing, did pretty well with 14 men..1/4 penalties and 0/1 conversions isn't good enough in a one point game..

[Ouchy]

I didn't watch the game, but from what I heard Wales should just have gone for a drop goal...

[doomy]

Gutted about that game last night. Wales definitely outplayed France I think.

Just the early red card and the missed penalties and conversions cost them too much.

 

Oh well, France will be an easier win for NZ once we beat Aussie and make the final, right Jimmy?

[Noxx]

Justice.

 

EDIT: Any one see that tackle made on Cooper in the 24th minute? Man i could watch a replay of that ALLLLLL DAYYYY.

[Neos_Matrix]

Gf Australia. You put up a good fight.

 

New Zealand vs France, round two.

[doomy]

The tackle on Cooper being the one where not sure who it was, Corey Jane I think knowing the game he had, charges at him not even going for the ball, just stuck his head down and smashed em bro? :P

The hate on Quade Cooper here is awesome haha.

 

Awesome stuff by the All Blacks, that game was pretty much the final I reckon. Stoked with the result!

My mates now 180$ down the drain for an AB shirt.

 

bring on France!

[Noxx]

The tackle on Cooper being the one where not sure who it was, Corey Jane I think knowing the game he had, charges at him not even going for the ball, just stuck his head down and smashed em bro? :P

The hate on Quade Cooper here is awesome haha.

 

Awesome stuff by the All Blacks, that game was pretty much the final I reckon. Stoked with the result!

My mates now 180$ down the drain for an AB shirt.

 

bring on Frace!

Yeah some NZ player kicked the ball, right down the touch line, Quade caught it. NZ player dipped his head and smashed Cooper. Textbook stuff.

NZ really played a smashing game. Blood and sweat.

[doomy]

The tackle on Cooper being the one where not sure who it was, Corey Jane I think knowing the game he had, charges at him not even going for the ball, just stuck his head down and smashed em bro? :P

The hate on Quade Cooper here is awesome haha.

 

Awesome stuff by the All Blacks, that game was pretty much the final I reckon. Stoked with the result!

My mates now 180$ down the drain for an AB shirt.

 

bring on France!

Yeah some NZ player kicked the ball, right down the touch line, Quade caught it. NZ player dipped his head and smashed Cooper. Textbook stuff.

NZ really played a smashing game. Blood and sweat.

Think it was Kahui actually.

Blood mostly from the Aussie players noses that game lol.

[jimmy_jim]

FFFFFFFFFFF

 

RUGBY'S A STUPID GAME, BACK TO CRICKET

[Ouchy]

FFFFFFFFFFF

 

RUGBY'S A STUPID GAME, BACK TO CRICKET

 

 

SHAME JIMMEH!!!! :twisted:

 

 

Last night was such an awesome game to watch, can't wait for the final now!

[Jeffwilson99]

Yeah that was Richard Kahui who smashed Cooper.

 

[bleep]ing Wales should have won, the red card was [cabbage].

 

Meh final will be lame now.

[Noxx]

Yeah that was Richard Kahui who smashed Cooper.

 

[bleep]ing Wales should have won, the red card was [cabbage].

 

Meh final will be lame now.

Don't really think the red card was as unfair as people make it out out to be. That was a dangerous tackle after all. I think what most people are upset about is the fact that it's not a consistent call if you look at some other dangerous tackles that have been made in earlier games in the world cup. So in accordance with the rules the referee made the best decision by sending him off. And i applaud him for having the guts to follow the rules in a big game like that.