The Rugby World Cup kicks off on Friday and I’m super-excited. For the first time in quite a while it looks like there are a whole bunch of teams in the mix to win this year’s cup.
It’s no secret that the New Zealanders are the favourites to walk away with the cup this year and France, being the hosts, also have good odds. After the top two, by my reckoning at least, there are a host of teams that could win the title given slightly more luck. These teams include (in no particular order): Australia, South Africa, England, Wales, Argentina, and Ireland. All of these teams either have shown good form this year, are known to step up in big games (like England, those bastards!) or have almost pulled off big upsets in the last year or so (like Argentina).
Personally though, I’m backing Fiji because the longer they stay in the competition the more chances I’ll have to wear a sulu to the pub…
Me too, although being a Kiwi, I’ve had to set aside a contingency reserve to pay for counselling if we crash out in the semis yet again.
I think France could take it out. They were very impressive against England recently, and on home turf, they are always hard to beat. South Africa also can’t be discounted - they have an excellent defensive game, plus probably the world’s best lineout jumpers.
Obviously my allegiance is to the All Blacks, who are rightfully ranked number one in the world, but this is a difficult competition to win and, as John Eales observed, it’s not necessarily the best team in the world that wins it, but the one that excels in a knock-out.
I think you’re stretching it, though, to think that England, Ireland or Argentina have a chance. England are on a steep downhill slide, Johnny Wilkinson is perenially injured and they have no creativity in attack. Ireland, too, have lost some form. Argentina could make the semis at a stretch, but they’d be knocked out there by one of the big guns.
In the interests of trans-Tasman relations, I won’t offer an opinion on Australia’s chances.
Who cares? Really? More over-paid young men participating in another silly activity with rules that require a conclave of cardinals to make sense of. I confidentally predict that one of the teams in the competition will win it. The others won’t.
Cheers….
I care Mick!
Mr Denmore - You’re right of course about England, Ireland, and Argentina but the “second tier” have the best chance at this World Cup than they’ve had for a while.
I think I might be the only Australian hanging out for the Twenty20 World Cup (perhaps we are not excited as we might not win this one).
As for the Rugby: I hope the Welsh put the cat amongst the pigeons and cause a few upsets. But always seems to come down to the final 4 (Australia, NZ, South Africa, England). It seem like this would be broken in ‘99 after the fine effort of french but 8 years later there is not real difference.
Given the NRL finals are on, I’m not that excited just yet about the Marshal Petain Cup.
But I like your sartorial reason for backing Fiji.
B.S. Fairman - The way things are set up with this year’s cup it is impossible for England, Australia and South Africa to be there at semi-final time. At least one of England, Australia, and England have to have been knocked out at the quarter final stage. My bet is on England being shown the door.
wales???
I don’t know much about Rugby. But while I support Australia in every sport, I would like to learn about Rugby and support Italy.
However seeing they are playing the All Blacks first up it may not be a good idea.
I’m interested, if only to see NZ choke again when they are clearly the favourite. The World Cup surely is their nemesis……..and Australia’s bunny. Even with a crap team last time they got to the final and it took a dagger through the heart in quintuple overtime by some guy with a one legged skill to beat them. The Wobblies are chronic overachievers in this event.
The Collaborators Cup pity more people will be interested in the NRL finals,
i,m just pissed off that after getting games Sat Sunday and Friday night on FOX3,the finals go into blackout,cause of 9 and the gutless bastards at the NRL.
The Thieves Cup just does not register to me or the greater population of the place I live in Perth WA.
When Rugby Union returns what they stole of the FRL I might reconsider,but I think by then RU will have vanished anyway
The Pommies cannot be written off, mainly because they can never be trusted.
Go the Wallabies!
Australia will almost get there but not quite, the worst option because the current unsatisfactory arrangements (eg flatulent dinosaur Connolly) may well persist if given encouragement.
France could win it. South Africa, Wales and Ireland are the dark horses. Everyone loves beating England and most teams will - plenty of stars on the way out, none on the rise, no compensating champion-team-is-better-than-a-team-of-champions ethos. I’d love to see Argentina and Scotland do well, but you’d be a fool to bet on it.
The rise of Japan from the bottom of world rugby to the middle is a phenomenon worth watching - it is far more interesting as a rising rugby power than Italy.
If SAf leave the Super 14 and become the Seventh Nation, I’d like to see Australia and New Zealand anchor an Asia-Pacific provincial rugby competition that would deliver the regional sporting integration that soccer has only promised.
NZ will bottle it in the semis. They’ll slice through the other teams on the way through and have an awesome for-and-against record. There’ll be one slip-up in one game, and one of the first-rank teams will pounce and suddenly it will be all over for the Kiwis once again.
Australia will almost get there but not quite, the worst option because the current unsatisfactory arrangements (eg flatulent dinosaur Connolly) may well persist if given encouragement
Fair go. Allowing for the short prep, Knuckles & Co have done very well, on balance, and Australian rugby has been in good form.
Remember, in the international provincial tournament, the Brumbies finished with their longest winning streak in history - six on the trot, home and away. Both the Brumbies and the Waratahs won their final games in New Zealand, serving notice for those watching. By contrast, both Kiwi teams lost the following week in South Africa, underscoring the weakness of the All Blacks on the road. The WA Farce also had its best season. The only Super 14 disaster was Queensland, because of Crazy Eddie Jones. We have subsequently scored a major strategic advantage in having Crazy Eddie adopted by the Boks.
In this year’s Tests, the Wallabies have been competitive every outing. Of the seven Tests, the Wallabies won five, including one each against South Africa and NZ. In the two losing away games, the Wallabies were by no means trashed. On the contrary, they were fully competitive, especially against the full-strength Boks in South Africa, where they were inspiring. There was hardly anything in the Test in NZ, perhaps only a couple of refereeing decisions. The All Blacks were also defeated in South Africa. The Boks lost in New Zealand. If you take away the home ground advantage in these results, which the World Cup will, we have an open ball game between these three superpowers, on form.
And Knuckles is going after the Cup in any event.
John Ryan, I can honestly say I have no idea what you are talking about.
Andrew E - Japan are definitely worth watching. They won’t make it to the quarters this year but methinks next time around they might be there. Personally, I’d love to see Australia and New Zealand engage the South Pacific nations properly, I doubt it will happen anytime soon though.
cs - It’s funny (or rather terrifying) that I have the same nightmares about a pommy World Cup win as I do about John Howard clawing his way back. What makes it all worse is that for the next couple of years I’m living in England and I’m sure I’d never hear the end of it…
John Ryan, I can honestly say I have no idea what you are talking about.
The ugly history of French rugby union, still unapologised for and unatoned for and the profits of which make this event possible.
Rugby Yawnion is a disgrace. Go the Raiders!!
I care! I have already had T-Shirts made with a photo of Johnnie Wilkinson inside a circle with a red line through him. No Johnnie, No Johnnie, No! No! No!
mick - I’d suggest that a concerted political focus on the Pacific from a new Australian government and also China, where the PLA have started playing rugby in fitness drills, would see a kind of Rugby Diplomacy into the mix. It could also, hopefully, set up a structure to replace this nonsense.
Woah there. The All Blacks’ weakness on the road? You’re kidding right?
Since June 2004, the ABs have been ranked number 1 in the IRB rankings. They have the best away record of any rugby nation - definitely better than the Wallabies who struggle to win away from home
League is the king of codes. And this is from a rugby journo which explains the ridiculous last paragraph.
Apologies Mr Dernmore, I keep getting this year’s game mixed up with the Kiwi loss in NZ last year. It remains that the NZ Super 14 teams failed in South Africa at the end of the competition this year, whereas both the Brumbies and the Tahs won in NZ.
It also remains that the All Blacks are fully entitled to be favourites, given their northern tour last year. The question marks over them are whether they have already peaked and whether they can handle the special pressure of the World Cup.
France is entitled to second favourite becaue of the home ground advantage and good recent form.
After that, the thing’s wide open. Go the Wallabies!
Kiwi loss in NZ last year
err, make that the Kiwi loss in South Africa last year.
I care too!
Bought meself a 160Gb PVR just so I could record all this rugby goodness.
I’ll out myself as a Kiwi too.
Have a squizz at rec.sport.rugby.union to see this meme about the ABs choking. In particular this post sums it up quite well I think:
This time the ABs are favourites, but not as clearly as the English were last time. They have lost to the Wallabies and have not dominated like they did last season.
France do look good but they have not beaten New Zealand for six years (9 losses and a draw)! Talk about bogey teams!
Since that semi-final in 2003 The ABs and the Wallabies have played 9 times, 7 wins to the ABs 2 for the Wallabies.
Who can say what will happen in a knockout tournament? The ABs are missing Umaga, because they have not been able to find a stable replacement. Alot will come own to injuries too. The locking depth is not great because there have been a number of season ending injuries to the young up and comers.
I think they can and should win. If Carter gets back to a shadow of the form he had last year it will be easier.
Woo hoo! Can’t wait!
Rugby Union? Sorry.. switched off them (mostly) when they dissed half of their supporter base by cutting off access to their game by free-to-air TV.
Still watch the Tests (if Iron Chef or something better is not on at the same time) but the lack of skills, lack of fitness and general bumbling, time wasting, snail-pace lack of action in a typical game (not to mention the forward passes) is just a turn off.
Go Tonga! Smash ‘em boys!!!
It’s hard to fault Knuckles record as a coach. OK he doesn’t have good PR but as long as he delivers who cares.
He’s got the forwards competitive again in set pieces and around the park.
Having Socksdown back at fullback should help.
The All Blacks have the easiest pool on rankings, which may be a problem when the real stuff starts. The AB’s lineout seemed surprisingly ordinary last I saw.
Roughly I agree with cs about prospects. I’d like it better if we had a better goal kicker. Also a field goal kicker. That Bok they brought on at the end in SA who pinged a couple taking the game away from us should have told us something (if we’d forgotten 2003).
A suggestion for people who don’t give a stuff about RU. Please do it somewhere else!
(I’ve just edited my comment so that it makes sense!)
Union World Cup? I doubt that any of those teams would even match up as equals to the Kangaroos. The whole idea is a bit farcical and hard to get up for. Sure the event in Sydney was good fun last time, but the only reason union still exists is because these silly northern hemisphere western European former world powers wont swallow their pride and play the real game. Good Luck to the Wallabies though.
Sigh, yes yes. We all know Rugby League is the king of the codes etc.
Really, if all anyone can say on this thread is RUGBY IS DUMB, then please don’t bother commenting. It’s really boring to read and lot’s of people disagree with you.
This thread is for people to talk about the Rugby World Cup and isn’t for you to debate the merits of your favourite football code.
Brian, I was really pleased to see the Wallabies forward play this year. It was much improved on the previous years. They seem to be playing with a lot more energy and vigour at the breakdown. It looks like Connoly has reinstated the importance of getting over the advantage line over the importance of endless ball retention.
Well the question was who else is getting excited about the Union World Cup?, so you can forgive me if I was telling you why I am not that excited about it. I am sorry Mick, it is just hard to take it seriously when football, a practically identical code, is so much more skillful at the skills that are in both games. Seriously, have a look at offloads, backline plays, tackling, attacking kicking and impromptu attacks… my mate reckons the only reason union exists was because the Nazis banned footy, and the upper-class English put their noses up at us, because it is an Irish-Australian game and culture. Doesnt it ever burn you up when you hear a commentator say the best rugby team in the world for a rugby union side when they are untested against the superior NRL?
me, not you - I’m not going to be drawn into an argument about the superiority of whatever code. There are different football codes out there and for a whole host of reasons, very few of which make any sense at all, some people like some codes more than others.
I’m sorry that the existence of Rugby offends you but I quite like the sport and am looking forward to the World Cup. I think you’ll find that there are a lot of people the world over that feel the same way.
Rugby League, what a sick provincial joke! You couldn’t pay me to watch it. I’ve tried, but what’s the trick that enables you to stay awake? And what the hell is that idiotic thing they do when they stand around leaning on each other occasionally? Apart from that, and the one-man tunnel ball thingo, there’s no apparent difference between League and standing round hitting your head with a brick for 80 minutes. Leagueies should bugger off and chat to their fellow grey-matter challenged NSWers & Qlders that follow that crude tv joke, leaving the grand strategies, awesome power and silky skills of international rugby to the globe’s adults.
I agree with Brian on Knuckles. As distinct from the last World Cup, where the players carried the Wallabies to the final despite their crazy coach, in this tilt we have a sane coaching squad who have the confidence of the team. Whereas the All Blacks have arguably peaked, the Wallabies are still improving every outing.
The main improvement since the dark days of Crazy Eddie Jones has been in the scrum, where we are not dominant but now fully competitive. Most of this has been due to Knucks, with Matt Dunning finally maturing. Dan Vickerman is arguably now the world’s best second-rower and line-out manager (with the exception of Victor Matfield). Nathan Sharpe is playing the best rugby of his career. George Smith is in a zone all of his own. Rocky Elsom was devastating in the Super 14, although he now needs to lift. I hope Stephen Hoiles gets some starts, for he’s a potential Ray Price and increases the potency of our line-out to the world’s best. Our weaknesses are our other prop, especially now Shepherdson is injured, and a rooky hooker. The untold story in Australian rugby is what’s really behind the dumping of Jeremy Paul. Overall, however, this is a good Wallaby pack getting better. It’ll be formidable; don’t you worry about that.
Time permitting, I’ll be blogging the battle for the World Cup in the game they play in heaven at Troppo.
Go the Wallabies!
I shall look forward to that. You write with knowledge and passion. I became addicted to the game watching the last World Cup from a sports bar in Thailand.