Simple Question: Who Will Win The World Cup?

[McTallshort]

Because we are crap

 

[AzaMatt]

Because we are crap

excellent in depth analysis there

 

[McTallshort]

excellent in depth analysis there

You want in depth analysis there are thousands of pages of it on here and in the press so please knock yourself out but as you replied with just a clever witty comment I will add.....we have no known centre partnership, no known half back partnership, an unbalanced back row with both Haskell and wood in and out of form and a front five who have spent the last 2 months forgetting how to secure its own set piece. There happy?

 

[TobesHodges]

You want in depth analysis there are thousands of pages of it on here and in the press so please knock yourself out but as you replied with just a clever witty comment I will add.....we have no known centre partnership, no known half back partnership, an unbalanced back row with both Haskell and wood in and out of form and a front five who have spent the last 2 months forgetting how to secure its own set piece. There happy?

Have a bit of Faith, you don't have to be so English about it.. Or are you secretly Irish?

 

[AzaMatt]

You want in depth analysis there are thousands of pages of it on here and in the press so please knock yourself out but as you replied with just a clever witty comment I will add.....we have no known centre partnership, no known half back partnership, an unbalanced back row with both Haskell and wood in and out of form and a front five who have spent the last 2 months forgetting how to secure its own set piece. There happy?

thats better, id like to think people post their opinions on forums. its fair enough you saying that england wont win but its good to hear the reasoning, wasnt being funny about it, just seeing whether you agree with what others have said or perhaps have other reasons why you think they wont win.

 

[McTallshort]

Oh and the fact we give away more penalties in the first half of game than most teams do in 10.

I know what your saying AzaMatt but all the talking, training, analysis etc has amounted to squat as far as England is concerned. We are in the toughest group and still cannot say who our best side is.

 

[AzaMatt]

Oh and the fact we give away more penalties in the first half of game than most teams do in 10.

I know what your saying AzaMatt but all the talking, training, analysis etc has amounted to squat as far as England is concerned. We are in the toughest group and still cannot say who our best side is.

i get what you mean mate, wales are the flipside, we know our strongest team, but if anything happens to any of them, we are in the **** lol.

 

[Jaguares]

The problem about the ABs is their easy pool. They are going to beat Georgia, Tonga and others easily by 80 points, that can lead to the over-confident and be surprised by France or Ireland in the quarter finals. Nothing that hasn't been seen before in a World Cup on European soil

 

[AzaMatt]

The problem about the ABs is their easy pool. They are going to beat Georgia, Tonga and others easily by 80 points, that can lead to the over-confident and be surprised by France or Ireland in the quarter finals. Nothing that hasn't been seen before in a World Cup on European soil

same could be said for south africa, theyve got it relatively easy. i think ireland will get through their pool with ease too and will take some stopping although whoever comes out of pool A has a real chance providing they dont burn out.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

same could be said for south africa, theyve got it relatively easy. i think ireland will get through their pool with ease too and will take some stopping although whoever comes out of pool A has a real chance providing they dont burn out.

It could probably have been tougher than Scotland and Samoa but I'd be surprised if we sailed past either of those teams TBH.

SA doesn't have that professional clinical edge at all times NZ possess. We are very prone to have little to no urgency when we are favorites and even then if we aren't and we manage to gather a lead we are prone to drop off the intensity through either fatigue, poor substitutes or lack of mental fortitude or some combination of factors. Also, we'll probably only beat those sides by excessive margins at home on the highveld. Also, we aren't nearly as settled a unit as NZ:

2 Bismarck du Plessis
4 Eben Etzebeth
11 Bryan Habana

These are the only 100% sure, nailed on starters.

The props are kinda setltled but its not quite as clear cut as with the above:
1 Mtawarira is the encumbant but Kitshoff is the form player or at least was the form player prior to injury. Missed out on the lead up games and it'll be interesting to see what role he plays.
3 Jannie du Plessis seemed to have recaptured some form again after being carried for ~3 years... only to get injured. Malherbe has suffered injuries on and off and this is the main reason JdP almst had to be carried and Koch's test carreer is just about over before it even began thanks to Poite blowing him off the park having allowed that wily du of Ayerza and Creevy to do whatever they wanted at the scrum.

Elsewhere:
5 Matfield looks to be seen as the encumbent but got injured, Lood de Jager then stepped in and up but also got injured while PS du Toit was seen as the long term solution to the #5 jersey but hasn't been able to stay injury free since first capped by Meyer 2/3 years ago.
6 Alberts or Burger. Both have asterisks next to their names though both are sound enough players.
7 Louw, Coetzee, Brussow (and Kriel thugh he isn't in the squad). A difficult choice even if there isn't really a poor option but its a difficult issue of balance and chemistry.
8 Is Vermeulen ready? If so then okay, this isn't a tough choice but we're not yet sure Vermeulen will be ready. He certainly won't be available until halfway through the pool stages according to the most recent reports. Do we really want to carry wounded players in the 31?
9 Oh, my goodness I don't even want to start unpacking this one. Pienaar has had the time but has underwhelmed. FdP is an absolute quesion mark. Hougaard looks in fine form in the Currie Cup and so does Faf de Klerk but neither were part of Meyer's plans. Reinach was in the squad fr these warm up games but didn't really get any chances.
10 Pollard is the one that got all the game time while Lambie took his one chance well. I've been of the opinion that Pollard has the most potential going forward but Lambie is the steadier option for this RWC. Then there is always Morne Steyn. I wouldn't be overly surprised or upset if he featured.
12 De Allende (with **** defense) or De Villiers who is a passenger at present. Frans Steyn? Jan Serfontein? With De Allende on the wing?
13 Will Kriel play 13, 14 or 15 and/or might one of De Villiers or Serfontein fill in at 13? I'm not even sure Meyer knows which way he is leaning ATM.
14 ? Jut a big ? JPP, Hendricks, Kriel and Mvovo have all had a few minutes here and here as well all our options have an asterisk next to their names.
15 Do we really want Le Roux at 15 in a knock out game? He is as likely to gift the opposition 14 points as he is to score a try and create another. The options though are either Kirchner (please, no!) or one of Lambie or Kriel who I'd want starting elsewhere. Frans Steyn? Not for me but his name is being tossed around.

 

[The Jones Boy]

I hate to say it but I think it's going to be...

The Boks.

 

[nzlizard]

The problem about the ABs is their easy pool. They are going to beat Georgia, Tonga and others easily by 80 points, that can lead to the over-confident and be surprised by France or Ireland in the quarter finals. Nothing that hasn't been seen before in a World Cup on European soil

I would like to think we have learnt our lesson from 2007 and various other tests about being to complacent and taking things for granted.

 

[The Jones Boy]

I love the element of unpredictability that surrounds a RWC.
4 teams can definitely win the RWC because they have been good enough to win it in the past.
The Boks have the best balance in their squad, Aussie have the most mercurial backline, the AB's have a winning ethic...
Some people are saying England are underdone... I'm not convinced and even if they are, they still have home advantage which counts for a serious advantage. England will be strong.
After the previous winners, Ireland loom large as a genuine threat to the take the Cup. They look good everytime they step out and everybody will be happy if they can avoid Ireland in the draw. Ranked 2nd in the world is a massive achievement from a country with such a small catchment area.
FRance, at 6's and 7's under PSA, unlikely to do the business as they have so often been the bridesmaid but they could do it and they may well fire a bolt or two as they usually do (usually at the AB's)
Wales, unlikely to win it but if they get out of their group anything is possible in knockout rugby. They do seem to struggle with the big 3 southern hemisphere teams but on their day Wales can lift to a higher level and score tries against any team in world rugby.

 

[valley commando]

Maybe The Wallabies aren't the best at away games but also the ABs this year. They were dominated in Johannesburg and Sydney, their best games were at home

A semifinal between OZ and NZ in a neutral place would be epic, anyone can win

I beg to differ aren't Oz the only team to win the WC twice on foreign soil ?

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I feel if either Oz or Wales win group A they can go all the way, with the proviso that should Wales top the group they don't have any injuries to the following key players -:

Halfpenny
North
Roberts
Biggar
Webb
Jenkins
Lee
AWJ
Tipuric or Warburton
Falatau

Yes it is a big list and a big ask, but we arent big on depth.

 

[dunney77]

I would love to see Ireland win it but I just have a ****ling feeling the French will top that group, which would end our chances.

We have made it hard for ourselves against them during both 6N wins. Banking on the Millennium Stadium turning green for that game.

Head thinks England - the Twickenham factor is massive. More so than any other host.

 

[Amiga500]

At the minute, I rank all 3 big southern hemi teams as better than us to varying degrees, in the case of NZ, quite significantly better.

The hype surrounding the squad is unreal and I believe much of it is misplaced. We've won a couple of 6N against poor enough opposition and got a somewhat fortuitous win in November against SA.

We *might* win it (however unlikely I feel that is), but it will be due to others under-performing more than us being better than them.

NZ are in pole position. Australia are probably next best placed right now (and much praise to Cheika for that!), then SA, then any of ourselves, France and maybe England (although I think its a poor enough England squad). Wales and Argentina don't have the depth to cope unless they somehow stay injury free throughout - I also think too much luck/too many others would have to under perform for them to win.

 

[CaliRa1]

The safest bet would be South Africa or New Zealand
Because every other power nation has at least 1 New Zealand-born player on their side

 

[Amiga500]

The safest bet would be South Africa or New Zealand
Because every other power nation has at least 1 New Zealand-born player on their side

By that logic, surely Fiji or Samoa should be white-hot favourites

 

[msf]

I think any one of 6 could win it this time (Ireland and France plus the past winners), but New Zealand, and to a lesser extent, South Africa, are out in front. SA should have beaten both Aus and NZ in the Rugby Championship, and I just don´t see any of the European teams apart from Ireland beating them.

 

[Jaguares]

The safest bet would be South Africa or New Zealand
Because every other power nation has at least 1 New Zealand-born player on their side

The Pumas dont have Kiwis and Australia is not guilty of that more Kiwis are living in OZ than in NZ