[caladanbrood]

Tis nearly upon us, please let there be someone else who will discuss this...

England ripped through a severely depleted Welsh team today with a record score... Good on Nick Easter, nice to see some Quins players stepping up to the mark at last

For the most concerning quote of the day, however, at least for english fans, see my signature.




Now, discuss. I shall say more when I get back home next week.

[Falco]

Sth Hem>>>>>>>>>>>>>>daylight>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Nth Hem.


That is all.

[Grumble]

Who are the holders ? Beat a team of Kangaroo worriers as I recall !

[Falco]

2003? All we need to do make sure that doesn't happen again is to get someone to break Wilkinson. I am 100% sure that NZ, SA and Aus are all better teams than any of the European sides this year...I think France have a slim hope on home soil, but thats about it.

[Grumble]

I'm sure your right but until NZ are crowned we remain the holders

[Koryk of the Seti]

hope ireland do well this year! i hav a ticket to the ireland/france match so that shud be good:D maybe a chance for some revenge from the 6 nations?? i hope so! we never do very well in the world cup but we hav a strong side this year and i hope we suprise but we also hav a tough group....but i suppose all the groups are tough this year

[Rich the Great]

Argentina all the way.

But in fairness, I can quite easily see the semi's being the southern hemisphere teams, SA, NZ, Aus and the Argies. Outside chance of France and Ireland replacing either Australia or Argentina there. England again will be handed the lesson that a huge set of forwards will not be that effective against more streetwise opposition, when it comes to the groundwork, or mauling well. I mean hell, Wales broke that up fairly easily simply by dragging players in front of the maul. There is enough in France and Ireland's backlines to cause any team trouble, but you have to wonder whether their packs will be upto it against say the SA pack. So yeah, Southern Hemi for the win.

[dktorode]

last chance for S.Africa to win the world cup im afraid!
Big bosses have made a ruling that all our players not playing in South Africa (club rugby) may NEVER play for the Springboks.
And dont forget our lovely Quota system which is being implemented after this world cup which means our manager will be forced to field 8 players of colour on the field at all time!
Im not saying i dont want payers of colour on the field...if they are the better players of course let them play...but it sadly will mean that the white players will start leaving for greener pastures as they wont wait around while some guy with lesser skill is picked above him purely because of the colour of his skin!
Its already happened in cricket...for example English cricketer
Kevin Pieterson who is actually South African...he kept getting sidelined because of cricket quota system, and up and left to england.

Anyway i reckon the Southern hemisphere once again will be the favorites with England, Ireland and France being the major European contenders.

In the end though im leaning towards a South African vs New Zealand final...cant say who will win that one...heh heh

[Falco]

I'm biased of course, but I reckon Aus could be the dark horse this year. NZ the odds on faves of course, but how many times have we said that...

[Grumble]

Dark Horses my arse unless that's Austria you are talking about ! Australia can hardly be considered a surprise team even if they did lose the last egg chasers world cup to England in their own backyard :eek:

[Falco]

Well everyone seemed to have written us for 3 months ago...I still think the NZ and the Saffers are better, but we could click better as a team during the tournament...

Btw with the Saffers banning players playing overseas from the Boks and a rota system coming in over there, expect a lot of rugby Kevin Pieterson types in the England team over the next few years...

[Binder of Demons]

A year ago, I'd have said NZ no question, but now I must say I have a bad feeling. They really have gone off the boil in recent months. Still, if they can sort out their lineout, then they should still be favourites.

As is typical, Australia have started to look really dangerous now as the world cup approaches. Amazing improvement really, and I'd never write them off when it comes to tournament play. They never know when they are beaten.

The Boks? Again, hard to tell since their squad was quite under strength at the end of the tri-nations. But as long as they have Habana fit, then they will scare the All Blacks ;-)
They do look to have a strong squad overall. But I don't think teams like Ireland and Argentina fear the Boks anymore. And that has really leveled the field.

Argentina could be a real threat as well considering France is like a second home for so many of their players, and they will have the crowd on their side for many of their games.

And my beloved Ireland. On our day, we can take anyone, but I don't think we have the squad depth for a sustained challenge throughout a tournament. An injury or suspension to one of our key players like O'Driscoll, or O'Connell and we really struggle. Our only hope is to manage to sneak our way through to the final and play New Zealand, where their ability to choke in a world cup will finally overcome our inferiority complex when playing the All Blacks.

England have too much riding on Wilkinson's health I think. France? Who knows, they're French! They could bow out with na'ry a whimper or explode and dazzle all before them. I would never bet on them.

But despite all my reservations, I'll still go with NZ. Because, despite playing pretty messy rugby for the last few months, teams have still struggled to last a full 80 mins against them. It is similar to how the Crusaders were in the Super 14 the previous year, where they would wear teams down physically, and then blitz them in the final 20 mins. If the the All Blacks can control their lineout, and cut out the sloppy handling errors, then they could destroy everybody.
If Ireland don't win then i hope it's New Zealand.

[Tsundoku]

Have to go with Binder here. I think this year is the best opportunity in a long time for the Kiwis, their sheer all round class and consistency will get them through any little scares thrown up by the more mercurial teams. They had their scare games in the Tri Nations, so they'll be more composed for the WC.

Also, if they choke YET AGAIN, this time they won't just be kicked out of the country, they'll have angry mobs after them and massive contracts on their heads. It'll be wall-to-wall psycho Maori ninjas. Scary!

@Falco
Nah, Yarpies that leave SA end up playing for NZ, more often than not. They want to play for a team that has a chance.

@dktorode
They have a quota system for ON-FIELD numbers? There are just too many ways to detail how f**king stupid a policy that is, not only for tactical reasons, but team morale and junior development. Dear God, PC gone power-mad.

Cheers,

La Sombra, BS gone power-mad

[dktorode]

Yea Sombra ON FIELD...well thats what ive been told by numerous peeps in the know.
It has been an on going problem in our sport as a whole.

The players are threatening to strike domestic competitions as they are contractually bound to the world cup they cant threaten to strike there!

The announcement couldnt have come at a worse time...our boys are meant to be focusing on the world cup now...not whats gonna happen after!!!

*SIGH*

[Mort]

Based ont he new Yarpie policy on selection for players opf colour, anyone else feel Jake White has the most ironic name in Rugby at the moment.
For those who are unsure, he's the SA coach, and already been told he will get the push post the RWC.
As a negative for SA, they have signed Eddie Jones as a coaching adviser. Given his record I'm pretty sure the best thing is to do the opposite of his advice...

Along with everyone else, I'm pretty keen on the All Blacks to finally fall over the line this year; after all it's been a long long time since 87.
Did anyone else in the SOuth feel that, despite all the positive commentators opinions, the Aussie pack was creaking durign the tri-nations. I can't recall seeing them ever pack on the call, they seemed to jump the call every single time. Having said that, it was a much better performance than the last couple of years! On the day our backline can take on and beat any other team.

Bring it on!

[Falco]

If our forwards can give Larkham, Mortlock, Giteau et al. enough ball then watch out.

France have been impressive recently.

[Cold Iron]

11 days to go!

[dktorode]

*rubs hands together*

[Binder of Demons]

Oh Ireland are gonna so kick all your asses!!!!


Ahh.......... O.K ..........., maybe I should ease off on the magic mushrooms?

[iscariot]

If the All Blacks remember that they're supposed to actually hold on to the ball then they'll bolt in - their handling in the Tri-Nations was abysmal; they'd have been lucky to catch a fucking bus let alone a swiftly passed football.

The line-out's a problem but they'll probably go short and quick for most of them thus negating the fact that mob-victims with concrete shoes can jump higher than our damn locks.

We've got the best scrum in world rugby atm, except when idiot referees are under the impression that it's common practise for infinitely superior props to pull down their weaker opponents...*sigh*

---

I fear the French. As someone noted, those lunatics are either completely useless or, magical beyond belief (and they normally save their most insane performances for the All Blacks...bastards)