RWC Draw
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Ostensibly the same as last time - best team first, second best team last. Filler in the middle.
Bit of a pain for those thinking of making the trek as the Boks clash will be epic (the only pool clash anticipated this much in RWC history is the Aus v Boks in 1995) but for most it is impractical to wait the additional 10 days for the minnow fixtures.
Also the presence of the Boks and an unconventional venue (where we regularly lay an egg) means you probably want to cover your bases with both possible QF if just making the trek for the finals.
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Not a great draw. We have to go in firing to knock SA away then keep interested for the rest of the pool round.
Two teams in the middle to work on our game as per last WC. Then a good hit out before a quarter final. Looks good.
There's a pool of death again for England and the Wallabies have the shittest pool and a real challenge to step up for a tough quarter final regardless of coming first or second in their pool.
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NZ v England in 99 was also a big clash.
As was 03 SA v Eng (although it turned out SA were crap post Staalgrad)
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Ticket buying strategy for me is to try and get Yokohama tickets vs Boks (If I can't I'll just watch it at a pub in Roppongi) - 11 day gap so will go to inlaws and then boat across to Oita to watch 2nd ABs game.
Aussies playing there 3 days later so Aussie mate keen to catch up so will be in Oita area for both games. Tickets I'm guessing shouldn't be too hard to get for either match. Not sure if I'll stay in Oita or up the road in Beppu (famous hot spring resort). Will duck across to South Korea on the ferry after the games finish.
Going to see if I can get tickets to the Italy game as well in Toyota. Probably best to stay in Nagoya and grab train out there on gameday.
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"Team Pack" for NZ is 1.5 times the price of England.
My joy and arrogance from All Blacks success is somewhat tempered by the increased cost which goes with it.
Anyway, some useful links...
Dates of the various tickets/packs going on sale
(4 Application/sales period)Pricing of the ticket "packs" which will be on sale before individual tickets
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Has anyone looked at England's draw closely? They are truly screwed imo and if they can win it with such a tough draw, then they will definitely be deserved winners. They have two of their toughest opponents in their pool in France and Argentina in the last two rounds of pool play. Basically in order to win the tournament, they have to get through five Tier 1 teams over five consecutive weekends. Most teams can peak for two, maybe three games in a row. Five might be a bridge too far.
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Has anyone looked at England's draw closely? They are truly screwed imo and if they can win it with such a tough draw, then they will definitely be deserved winners. They have two of their toughest opponents in their pool in France and Argentina in the last two rounds of pool play. Basically in order to win the tournament, they have to get through five Tier 1 teams over five consecutive weekends. Most teams can peak for two, maybe three games in a row. Five might be a bridge too far.
Yeah - I originally thought they had it good, being able to "warm up" into the Finals... but listening to the 1014 guys talk about it, figured it was more as you say... 4/5 weeks in a row of top-tier competition - difficult.
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@akan004 Although apparently Eddie disagrees:
“If you were doing the ideal world and you wanted to set it up, that's how you want it, so we have no excuses.”
Lol. I guess he has to say the right things to the press. Can't see how anyone would be happy with a draw like that. I agree with the 1014 boys, had England as 2nd favourites and have now written them off almost completely.
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England could be in a position to punt the final pool game against France, they could get Fiji in the quarters - there are plenty of ways that it quickly turns into the ideal schedule.
New Zealand's has a good draw only providing they beat the Boks, otherwise they likely face Ireland in the quarter final.
Similarly, if Scotland upset Ireland as they did in their last outing then we get rewarded with a Chicago rematch in the QF despite beating SA.
Hard to cry too many tears for England as there isn't a true title contender in Pool D - so in that respect I think I would rather 100% chance of either Aus or Wales than a 50% chance of getting Ireland.
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@kruse I said the exact same about Australia at RWC 2015, who finished up pool play with games against England and Wales immediately before the knockout round.
Mind you, they were flat against Wales and god only knows how they beat Scotland in the QF.
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@rotated Not likely. If England drops the game against France, they will play the winner of Pool D in the quarters, which will more than likely be Australia. You are right however in stating that dropping the game against France might give them the best chance of winning the thing as it allows their first choice players a bit of a rest leading up to the quarters.
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@akan004 although history says if you drop a game, you are done...but then history told us we couldn't go back to back nor could we win in the NH, shows what history knew!
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@taniwharugby said in RWC Draw:
@akan004 although history says if you drop a game, you are done...but then history told us we couldn't go back to back nor could we win in the NH, shows what history knew!
Mind you France '11 and England '07 gave that idea a tickle.
The hierarchy of rugby has flattened out a lot more since '03 - especially between #3-12 in the world. So now qualifying second in your pool and getting a one seed in the QF isn't the death sentence it once was. If you looked at the 12 quarter finals between '95 -> '03 only one was remotely close - the Australia v England game in '95. Since then every QF aside from that beautiful fixture against the French last tournament has been legitimately competitive at the 60 minute mark, usually within a try.
Hopefully we about 2 more cups from getting to the point where people don't even bother predicting QF opponents and are more worried about getting out of the pool like in the FIFA World Cup!
