Rugby World Cup 2019 predictions

[Brigantine]

England is the only team that haven't received any cards in the tournament. SA had 1 yellow card, NZ & Wales had 3 each.

That's a good stat.

Here's hoping the semis and final aren't influenced by cards.

Re South Africa losing a game, and Wales not...
South Africa losing to NZ but denying them a BP: -0.16 RP
Wales beating Australia but conceding a LBP: -0.37 BP <- this was a notable under-performance from Wales

South Africa beating Italy, Namibia, Canada: +0.05
Wales beating Fiji, Georgia and Uruguay: +0.22

South Africa beating Japan: +0.27
Wales beating France: +0.17

 

[Brigantine]

Last time each team was ranked #1:

New Zealand: current
Wales: August 26 - 8 weeks ago
South Africa: 2009 - 10 years ago
England: 2004 - 15 years ago

Whoever wins the final will be #1 at least until the 6 Nations.

 

[duncanb]

So hard to predict the outcome of these 2 games .
At the start I guess this what most thought semis would be.
I'll have a stab at NZ v Wales final but would not be surprised to see any combination to be honest.

 

[TRF_heineken]

What else is interesting. Ah, Eddie Jones has never won the World Cup as a head coach of a team. And has only won a WC medal as an assistant coach.

The Springboks have now won 59/59 of their own lineouts...

 

[Zapphod]

What else is interesting. Ah, Eddie Jones has never won the World Cup as a head coach of a team. And has only won a WC medal as an assistant coach.

The Springboks have now won 59/59 of their own lineouts...

Oooo stats.
New Zealand has won 100% of the games where they scored more points than the opposition and finished no worse than second in games where they didn't score more points.

Sorry just wanted to feel included.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Pool A
1st Ireland
2nd Japan
3rd Scotland
4th Tonga
5th Romania

Pool B
1st South Africa
2nd New Zealand
3rdItaly
4thNamibia
5thGermany

Pool c
1st England
2nd France
3rdArgentina
4Fiji
5th USA

Pool D
1stWales
2 Australia
3rdSamoa
4th Georgia
5th Canada

Quarter finals
South Africa vs Japan 47-19
England's vs Australia 35-23
Wales vs France 25-18
Ireland vs New Zealand 21-39

Semi final
South Africa vs England 25-21
Wales vs New Zealand 23-47

3rd Place playoff
Wales vs England 18-32

Final
South Africa vs new Zealand 28-22

South Africa to win

What's your guys predictions

This could have been stunning if only you had realised who was going to play who in the semis. Pretty darn good though

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

So did we all channel our inner Nostradamus? Here's how my crystal ball gazing stacked up....

Likely to play the sexiest rugby: Eng. Not far off, final excluded.

Likely to play the dumbest rugby: Eng. The final....I rest my case.

Most likely to blow a winning lead: Eng. Got that one wrong. If only we could have got a lead yesterday to blow.

Eng will: QF worst, SF best. Pleasantly surprised that we went further than I expected.

If there's a NH winner it will be: Wal. Never looked likely winners. And yet, with a little luck and ambition they could easily have beaten the Boks in the semi and form and logic would have gone out of the window in an Eng v Wal final. Unlucky with injuries.

NZ's chances depend on: Retallick. Turned out to be one among a number of factors, but it helpz when your talisman is fully at the party.

Most likely to underperform: Ire. Obvs

Winners: Boks. Hah! Some small consolation in getting that right.

Dark horses: Aus. Less said about that the better although I didn't ever think they'd shoot themselves in the foot so badly.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Seriously I am expecting a big improvement in SA by the RWC of they can find a scrum half and have them as my second favourites to reach the final. They have a lot of talent that will be approaching their prime in late 2019 in every other position (except possibly fullback) and they will avoid NZ in the quarters and semis.

Thanks for reminding me of this old prediction from 2017 Umaga's Witness (when I think I predicted a Wales vs SA final - see, the second semi was the 'real' final ).

I was fully behind England as firm favourites in 2019, so can't claim that at all. This tournament was absolutely brutal to predict with a lot of the top teams being hugely inconsistent. I shall return undeterred in February with more ill informed 6N, REC & ARC predictions.

 

[Brigantine]

3.5/9 - not great

Likely to play the sexiest rugby: Fiji. Honourable mention Japan - Japan sure delivered, at least. 1/2

Likely to play the dumbest rugby: New Zealand. How many red cards will they get? - The cards didn't even come into it. 0

Most likely to blow a winning lead: England - In the end it was France. 0

France will: 4th in Pool worst, finalists best - I'll claim it. They only beat Argentina and Tonga by 2 points each, only lost to England and Wales by a typhoon and an elbow. 1

If there's a SH winner it will be: South Africa - Tick. 1

NZ's chances depend on: Whether it's a yellow or a red - Wrong. They got 3 YCs, but they wouldn't have mattered even if they were red. 0

Most likely to underperform: New Zealand. Not because they'll play worse, but because the expectations on them are higher - I'll take that one. 1

Winners: Wales. I said it back in 2017, I see no reason to change my mind now - Right up until 76' in the SF I still thought it could happen. 0

Dark horses: France. Because the cup is so wide open the top 6 are all light horses. All Quiet on the Western Front - The Australian Light Horse were ineffective, while France snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. 0