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IRB rankings and RWC 2015 pool draws

Was anyone else unable to work the live stream? I tried to work the replay again this morning but it still won't play.
 
TRF_Olyy said:
England vs France....in Twickenham....where France have such a great record :p
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hey now, never underestimate the infinite power of unpredictability !!

Besides...why us two. There are many more sides in Europe.

Italy could go on a tear, destroy France and Ireland and then drop 50 on Argentina and then AUS or SA or whoever and find their way in the final against......Scotland, where both teams go to 5 extra sessions and end up with a 73-74 score.

WHAT ?!! It's possible !!
 
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Black_Magic said:
Yeah, I know that's the common feeling of many Kiwis :) But maybe because I'm not a Kiwi, just a foreign supporter who has been fascinated by the All Blacks playing rugby, together with all the culture around it, I don't find it hard to like other teams, especially those who play offensive rugby.

Actually my rugby adventure began during RWC1991 when I was in awe watching the fantastic play of Campese. Then Australia became my first favourite rugby team - that was until I saw the All Blacks! And in general, I kind of like all the southern hemisphere countries, although I've never been there :) So, I might be a rare (I hope not!) specimen who supports both the All Blacks (above all) and Wallabies (at no. 2)! And when I tell you my third favourite team is France... ;)

Good luck to all rugby teams!
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I'm a strange New Zealander in that I actually tend to support Australia when New Zealand aren't playing. Australia as a country has never given us any reason to dislike them. They're pretty good neighbours all things considering. When we play them though it's all on.
 
William18 said:
I'm a strange New Zealander in that I actually tend to support Australia when New Zealand aren't playing. Australia as a country has never given us any reason to dislike them. They're pretty good neighbours all things considering. When we play them though it's all on.
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Yeah and it's strange to see how little harmony there is with the Brits. Scotland, especially seem to have an unhealthy, pathological hatred of the English!
 
Why is everyone dismissing Ireland and Argentina so readily? I think it's naive. Don't forget that Argentina will play against New Zealand a few more times in the championship and probably figure them out. Tonga is also a pretty physical encounter.

Pool A is really bad, really really bad. Remember Wales v Fiji in 2007? Oh boy. I have a feeling it will be Wales who miss out but you never know.
 
Superalexmarket said:
Really do you think that Wales could win the RWC?? C'mon don´t be naive man...
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they could...sometime in the next 100 years :D but seriously Wales are a good team surely you dont think that the world cup will be passed around the sanza nations for too much longer not forgetting England thoa
 
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The big Kangaroo said:
they could...sometime in the next 100 years :D but seriously Wales are a good team surely you dont think that the world cup will be passed around the sanza nations for too much longer not forgetting England thoa
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France are always a contender as well, especially when they get out of their historically underwhelming pool efforts.....sorry yoe91 HAHAHAHA :D

Edit: @yoe, I might have been a little harsh on France earlier but I would still say I fancy Canada's(albeit limited) chances against France rather than South Africa. A lot of people in Canadian rugby circles(including players) were VERY upset with the France vs. Tonga result(especially what looked like a subpar effort) last time round and could be out for revenge aginst Les Blues.
 
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Zed said:
Yeah and it's strange to see how little harmony there is with the Brits. Scotland, especially seem to have an unhealthy, pathological hatred of the English!
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I think a lot depends on whether you're British first, or English/Welsh/Scottish first. I prefer to think of myself as British rather than English and particularly like the Welsh so I'll support England first, Wales second, Scotland/minnows third. But then you get the type who are strictly English/Welsh/Scottish, who want anyone but their fellow Brits to win! I get it, but I'd always support a British team over a non-British one.
 
We will qualify. Then we will lose. Nothing will ever change.
 
Black_Magic said:
So, I might be a rare (I hope not!) specimen who supports both the All Blacks (above all) and Wallabies (at no. 2)!
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You can add Robbie Deans to this same list... :p


Rhyer said:
Why is everyone dismissing Ireland and Argentina so readily? I think it's naive. Don't forget that Argentina will play against New Zealand a few more times in the championship and probably figure them out. Tonga is also a pretty physical encounter.

Pool A is really bad, really really bad. Remember Wales v Fiji in 2007? Oh boy. I have a feeling it will be Wales who miss out but you never know.
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I actually think Argentina will be one a strong contender by that time.
If they continue their upward trend.

In regards to England, they're usually more or less 'meh' during the non-WC years; but do well during the RWC - is this a reverse of fortune (seeing as people like to do the same sort of "predictions" with the ABs :rolleyes:)???
 
Wales just had to be drawn into the same pool as England and Australia :(
I think Argentina will make the semis this time at least.
South Africa will breeze through unless something goes horribly wrong.
 
I certainly wouldn't write Wales off, and don't see support as misplaced ... look at the form they had going into the 2011 cup, and then the form they had actually in the tournament ... from a rugby fan's perspective, each world cup, there seem to be more competative match ups, which has to be good for the game globally
 
Yeah a teams fortunes can change drastically in less than a year. I don't think after almost losing to Scotland anyone could have predicted England beating the ABs so convincingly.
 
So who else predicts a larger exodus of SH players moving north for 2 or 3 seasons, getting a starting place, get some valuable experience and then get picked for the WC squads. leaving some NH talent on the sidelines and then get overlooked for WC duty, resulting in SH teams being better prepared for the WC...
 
I actually hope Samoa develop during the years leading up to the RWC so that they actually have something to lose and at the same time something to play for (they could actually go throught o the knock-out stages if Scotland aren't on form) and so that we don't see the type of game we saw last year; it was mostly just off the ball stuff.
 
Yeah lets hope the abs start losing in between the yrs of the world cup. So that we can defend our cup in 2015 with ease haha .
 
Europe 2 might even have an easier pool than Europe 1. If Georgia wants to prove themselves against 6N teams, they should make sure they finish second in the upcoming ENC.
 
The order of the games is crucial, I wouldn't want to play England if they've just lost to Australia (or vice versa). It's do or die time then. You never know, there could be an unlikely draw in group A which would get the calculators on standby. haha

Just hope Wales don't get a Grand Slam in 2015, seems to be a hangover curse.
 

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