Rugby World Cup general discussion
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@sparky said in Rugby World Cup news:
Another injured French player.
https://x.com/rugbyinsideline/status/1697612104591704230?s=46
Embedded tweet:
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North West Europe is forecast to have a mini heatwave for the next 7 days. The forecast is for it to be 23 degrees in Paris for next Friday night. https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2988507
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It’s going to heat 35 degrees in the middle of the day in Lyon next week. An opportunity for the All Blacks coach to shed a few pounds before the tournament begins.
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The draw is interesting with loads of possible outcomes, one interesting one is we could in theory win the World Cup only having to win 1 or 2 games vs top 5 teams.
We could in theory lose vs France in the pool, beat SA/IRE/Scotland in the QF, beat AUS/ENG in SF and then beat France (if they beat SA in the QF). So, we could also win without having to play SA or IRE
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@chimoaus said in RWC: Springboks v Scotland:
Yes they are changing it for the next one.
World Rugby will hold the pool draws for future Rugby World Cups at a later date, closer to the kick-off of upcoming tournamentsI don't understand why they don't do the pool draw after all the qualifying takes place.
There was the situation where Portugal (I think) qualified and then their fans couldn't buy any tickets to the pool games as they'd all been sold...
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@chimoaus said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
The draw is interesting with loads of possible outcomes, one interesting one is we could in theory win the World Cup only having to win 1 or 2 games vs top 5 teams.
We could in theory lose vs France in the pool, beat SA/IRE/Scotland in the QF, beat AUS/ENG in SF and then beat France (if they beat SA in the QF). So, we could also win without having to play SA or IRE
This exactly
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I for one will absolutely piss myself if the winner comes from Pools C or D
Actually I'll be ecstatic if it's Wales
All this talk that the draw is lopsided and it's unfair
If that's the case, then if you're good enough to beat SA or France or Ireland or NZ in the Final then you're good enough to beat them earlier in the competition
And if one of those four teams does make the final and plays a team from Pools C or D then they should be rubbing their hands
After all they only have to beat a really shit side to win it all
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@MiketheSnow said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
All this talk that the draw is lopsided and it's unfair
1st part correct, not sure anyone is saying the 2nd?
At any rate, teams knew what they were in for and have been planning, lets play!
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@taniwharugby said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@MiketheSnow said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
All this talk that the draw is lopsided and it's unfair
1st part correct, not sure anyone is saying the 2nd?
At any rate, teams knew what they were in for and have been planning, lets play!
Exactly
And the pools are not lopsided IMHO
The Ire, SA, Scot pool is like the Aus, Wal, Eng pool in 2015
Each WC has a 'Pool of Death'
And even if the QF had been Pool A v Pool C and Pool B v Pool D for example then we'd still likely see
NZ v Aus
Fra v Wal
Ire v Eng
SA v ArgOn paper NZ, Fra, Ire and SA (the top four sides in the world) advancing to the SF
But as many teams have found to their cost the QF are not played on paper and arguably the shit side of the draw could win one or all of those matches
Realistically NZ and Fra should have grins from ear to ear
One tough match in pool play (against each other) which shouldn't make any difference to either team making the QF
The RWC is a war of attrition and these two teams are best placed to have their best players playing at the knockout stages
That's why it's hard not to look past a France v NZ final
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No, they are lopsided, there is a reason the draw chooses one from ranked 1-4, then 5-8, etc for each pool = to make balanced pools. The fact that ranks 1-5 are on the same side of the draw by definition makes it lopsided. Whether tha's fair or whatever is different, but it is
a) lopsided
and
b) stupid due to the early draw. If this is not a problem then don't band the draws just do it randomly -
@MiketheSnow said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
I for one will absolutely piss myself if the winner comes from Pools C or D
Frankly, aside from being pissed it's not us, I'd be delighted...
If it's Fiji ...
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@MiketheSnow said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
All this talk that the draw is lopsided and it's unfair
Nobody has said ... well somebody might have but I haven'tseen it ... it's unfair. Just that it's stupid and has not achieved what they wanted to achieve: the best ranked teams meeting at the pointy end.
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@booboo said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@MiketheSnow said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
All this talk that the draw is lopsided and it's unfair
Nobody has said ... well somebody might have but I haven'tseen it ... it's unfair. Just that it's stupid and has not achieved what they wanted to achieve: the best ranked teams meeting at the pointy end.
If by that you mean 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 (world rankings) meeting in the SF then no
But 2 of those top 4 ranked teams could meet in the Final
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So
Taking today's rankings (the last rankings before the start of RWC) the pools would look like this
Pool A
Ireland (1)
England (8)
Samoa (12)
Portugal (16)
Chile (22)Pool B
New Zealand (4)
Scotland (5)
Australia (9)
Italy (13)
Uruguay (17)Pool C
South Africa (2)
Fiji (7)
Georgia (11)
Tonga (15)
Namibia (21)Pool D
France (3)
Argentina (6)
Wales (10)
Japan (14)
Romania (19)Which would give possible QFs
Ireland v Scotland/Australia
New Zealand v England / SamoaSouth Africa v Argentina / Wales
France v FijiVery contestable QFs depending on which players are available and a 1-4 showing in the SF is not guaranteed
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Maybe someone knows how to resize this image for posting. A useful graphic re: team announcement times.
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Official RWC promo video - spot the caveman -
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