[2023 TRC] Australia vs Argentina

[Hmmmmmm]

Fiji have a great chance to finish top and play Argentina in a quarter final. Come World Cup I see you raising your game, we will too probably but not enough to beat Australia so I think you'll still qualify. Australia v England quarter final is practically guaranteed.

Fiji are no chance of finishing top of the pool. If you think Australia have poor discipline wait till you play against Fiji.

 

[Hmmmmmm]

Australia centre Ikitau suffers shoulder fracture

Australia centre Len Ikitau faces a race to be fit for the World Cup after suffering a fractured shoulder blade in the 34-31 defeat by Argentina.

www.bbc.co.uk

Big loss for Wallabies?

Huge

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Fiji are no chance of finishing top of the pool. If you think Australia have poor discipline wait till you play against Fiji.

They still have glen Jackson in their coaching lineup

"Simon Raiwalui was recently announced as the Flying Fijians national coach with five assistant coaches, three being of Fijian heritage, Senirusi Seruvakula, Seremaia Bai and Graham Dewes, as well as Glen Jackson and Brad Harris"

 

[BPM]

Fiji would need good coaches and regular tests against tier 1 nations in order to be competitive.

Definitely. It is surprising how many pundits are tipping them to top the group though. Based upon actual results, I'd argue Georgia might have a better chance.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love Fiji to play to their potential, but until they get more regular exposure to Tier 1 opposition, I suspect they'll continue to fall short.

 

[BPM]

Huge

Yeah. Big loss. Hard to know who is favourite to come in? Hodge? O'Connor?

 

[Hmmmmmm]

Yeah. Big loss. Hard to know who is favourite to come in? Hodge? O'Connor?

If they're smart I think probably Flook from the Reds. Safe option could be Kellaway

 

[Welsh Exile]

Fiji are no chance of finishing top of the pool. If you think Australia have poor discipline wait till you play against Fiji.

I won't be putting my house on it but considering how weak Australia and Wales look it's a lot more likely than previous World Cups in my opinion.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Definitely. It is surprising how many pundits are tipping them to top the group though. Based upon actual results, I'd argue Georgia might have a better chance.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love Fiji to play to their potential, but until they get more regular exposure to Tier 1 opposition, I suspect they'll continue to fall short.

I agree with the general point you're making however I would say, as a slight counter and even potential equaliser that is almost as important as playing tier 1 international sides, is the fact they've got a good core of players playing top end super rugby all season. When you bring their class foreign based players into the mix of that core group that's been playing with each other week in week out we could see a different Fiji compared to previous years. My main thinking is still that It's been a long time since both Australia and Wales have looked this vulnerable but there's still time for that to change I suppose.

Also slight other point worth considering is Fiji play 5 warm up games (compared to our 3) including France and England as their last 2. With that in mind, and the fact we play Fiji first up, I can easily see us losing that and then Fiji building momentum from there.

 

[BPM]

True. The existence of the Drua and a good warm up schedule should help.

From purely factual POV though, Georgia have recently taken Tier 1 scalps, Fiji haven't. Yet, if you read most of the commentary, hardly anyone even mentions Georgia.

 

[Welsh Exile]

True. The existence of the Drua and a good warm up schedule should help.

From purely factual POV though, Georgia have recently taken Tier 1 scalps, Fiji haven't. Yet, if you read most of the commentary, hardly anyone even mentions Georgia.

So what you're saying is, Georgia top Fiji second.

 

[Derpus]

It looks like Eddie is staring down the barrel of a 0-4 record going in to the RWC.

Losing against the Boks in SA, was always likely. Losing badly and then losing the one game they might have expected to win at home though, is bad news. Particularly when their next couple of games are against a resurgent NZ side.

I'm still backing the Aussies to win pool C though. There's a lot of talent in the squad and even if Eddie's stock is low right now, I think he can turn it around for he tournament. 4 losses would be a very bad start, but I maintain that a team being forged in adversity against top tier opposition is a lot better than playing meaningless games that can give a very false impression of where a team is at.

Fiji have a very good squad, but probably not much better than 2019. I thought they'd do well last time round but they underperformed against Australia and Wales and lost to Uruguay … They haven't beaten a good side in a long time and even if the talent is there, it would take a massive improvement for the m to win the group.

None from five, actually. They have a friendly against France.

Ikitau loss is enormous. We have other 13s who are good going forward but no one with even half his defensive nous.

 

[BPM]

So what you're saying is, Georgia top Fiji second.

Yeah with Argentina and Japan qualifying from Pool D. Imagine …

 

[Umaga's Witness]

I agree with the general point you're making however I would say, as a slight counter and even potential equaliser that is almost as important as playing tier 1 international sides, is the fact they've got a good core of players playing top end super rugby all season. When you bring their class foreign based players into the mix of that core group that's been playing with each other week in week out we could see a different Fiji compared to previous years. My main thinking is still that It's been a long time since both Australia and Wales have looked this vulnerable but there's still time for that to change I suppose.

Also slight other point worth considering is Fiji play 5 warm up games (compared to our 3) including France and England as their last 2. With that in mind, and the fact we play Fiji first up, I can easily see us losing that and then Fiji building momentum from there.

But you probably play three tier 1 nations in your warm up

 

[Welsh Exile]

But you probably play three tier 1 nations in your warm up

Nah only 1, South Africa. Other 2 games are against England.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Nah only 1, South Africa. Other 2 games are against England.

i hadn't realised but fiji actually get to play france and england. That's better than what Tonga get with no tier 1 opponents or Japan with just italy (are they tier 1?), and samoa gets one game against Ireland.

 

[Welsh Exile]

i hadn't realised but fiji actually get to play france and england. That's better than what Tonga get with no tier 1 opponents or Japan with just italy (are they tier 1?), and samoa gets one game against Ireland.

This is what I was saying in my extremely excellent, informative post that you quoted a bit further up. 5 games in total with the last 2 being against England and France. Japan before that is a good one as well. Definitely a good build up. Wales will be fired up as well, though. Should be a cracking opening game. Well, when I say cracking I mean Fiji will try and play and we'll stink the place out.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

This is what I was saying in my extremely excellent, informative post that you quoted a bit further up. 5 games in total with the last 2 being against England and France. Japan before that is a good one as well. Definitely a good build up. Wales will be fired up as well, though. Should be a cracking opening game. Well, when I say cracking I mean Fiji will try and play and we'll stink the place out.

Ah yes I see that now, I try better reading next time. I bet you didn't realise you play fiji first up though

 

[Welsh Exile]