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<blockquote data-quote="Bruce_ma gooshvili" data-source="post: 977593" data-attributes="member: 74121"><p>For the NH:</p><p>Agree that France showed a lot of potential in 2019 in spells and should catch up with Wales and Ireland under new regimes. I'd be pretty sick if I was a Welsh, Irish, English or Scottish fan. The latter three due to gobsmacking underperformance in their biggest matches, the former due to untimely injuries to Anscombe and Liam Williams. I dont think any of the above will have a better opportunity to win a RWC in my lifetime than they had this year (but that doesn't mean that they won't win one). </p><p></p><p></p><p>For the SH: </p><p>I can see the appeal of a strong SA to counter the NZ dominance, and hopefully that spills over into Super Rugby. Pretty humongous questionmarks over the Pumas and Wallabies in the medium term and whether they will regain parity with the likes of Wales and Ireland in the next RWC cycle. </p><p></p><p></p><p>For the game overall:</p><p>I thought there was a good ratio of good games to bad ones, and I liked the extreme tactical variations from say the Eng vs Aus QF all the way through to the Wales vs SA semi. I think World Rugby are getting the balance right in countering the defensive dominance we have seen quite a bit of in recent years. If a team has a bad day their defence is going to be punished. Tries from open play are increasingly the critical factor in whether a team wins or loses, but the set piece is still hugely important. Thats a great balance to strike. Plus players are being physically protected to reduce the chances of their lives being ruined when they retire, so I actually give World Rugby a lot of credit despite the unfortunate issues with the typhoon and week 1 refereeing. </p><p></p><p>I like that a nation with home grown players and a home grown coaching staff lifted the ***le and hope that that becomes the formula for success. </p><p></p><p></p><p>For Tier2:</p><p>Improved fitness and defence, yes, but the gulf is still pretty darn big. Japan had everything going for them and did extremely well, but they didnt do as well as the Pumas when they were Tier2 in RWCs that they were playing in away from home. The US did not perform despite their professional leagues in much of the last RWC cycle. Many of the Tier2 sides are from small and/or poor countries that will particularly struggle to develop. </p><p></p><p>We were fortunate to have so many legitimate contenders for the ***le due to the lack of a dominant challenger. But we were still realistically talking about six or seven legitimate challengers at best. I think more likely than not, we will not have a new legitimate challenger by 2027 or even 2031, unless there are fundamental changes in the international structure of the game. It would be extremely easy for Japan to regress to the level of Fiji, Georgia and the US very quickly. Tier2 is still heavily reliant on middling / failed Tier1 coaching staff and the lack of top domestic coaching talent is a huge issue with no simple solution. </p><p></p><p>Overall, I give the RWC a hearty 7/10</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bruce_ma gooshvili, post: 977593, member: 74121"] For the NH: Agree that France showed a lot of potential in 2019 in spells and should catch up with Wales and Ireland under new regimes. I'd be pretty sick if I was a Welsh, Irish, English or Scottish fan. The latter three due to gobsmacking underperformance in their biggest matches, the former due to untimely injuries to Anscombe and Liam Williams. I dont think any of the above will have a better opportunity to win a RWC in my lifetime than they had this year (but that doesn't mean that they won't win one). For the SH: I can see the appeal of a strong SA to counter the NZ dominance, and hopefully that spills over into Super Rugby. Pretty humongous questionmarks over the Pumas and Wallabies in the medium term and whether they will regain parity with the likes of Wales and Ireland in the next RWC cycle. For the game overall: I thought there was a good ratio of good games to bad ones, and I liked the extreme tactical variations from say the Eng vs Aus QF all the way through to the Wales vs SA semi. I think World Rugby are getting the balance right in countering the defensive dominance we have seen quite a bit of in recent years. If a team has a bad day their defence is going to be punished. Tries from open play are increasingly the critical factor in whether a team wins or loses, but the set piece is still hugely important. Thats a great balance to strike. Plus players are being physically protected to reduce the chances of their lives being ruined when they retire, so I actually give World Rugby a lot of credit despite the unfortunate issues with the typhoon and week 1 refereeing. I like that a nation with home grown players and a home grown coaching staff lifted the ***le and hope that that becomes the formula for success. For Tier2: Improved fitness and defence, yes, but the gulf is still pretty darn big. Japan had everything going for them and did extremely well, but they didnt do as well as the Pumas when they were Tier2 in RWCs that they were playing in away from home. The US did not perform despite their professional leagues in much of the last RWC cycle. Many of the Tier2 sides are from small and/or poor countries that will particularly struggle to develop. We were fortunate to have so many legitimate contenders for the ***le due to the lack of a dominant challenger. But we were still realistically talking about six or seven legitimate challengers at best. I think more likely than not, we will not have a new legitimate challenger by 2027 or even 2031, unless there are fundamental changes in the international structure of the game. It would be extremely easy for Japan to regress to the level of Fiji, Georgia and the US very quickly. Tier2 is still heavily reliant on middling / failed Tier1 coaching staff and the lack of top domestic coaching talent is a huge issue with no simple solution. Overall, I give the RWC a hearty 7/10 [/QUOTE]
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