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Strongest Pool?

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Moody Fool

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Hello all.I am fairly new to watching international rugby and I wanted to pick people's brains as to which pool has the stiffest (and strongest) competition.Pool A, with perennial powerhouse NZ and the always dangerous French, followed by the closely matched Tonga, Japan and Canada sides?Pool B, which may give us an exciting three way battle for first with top ten sides England, Scotland and Argentina, plus an exciting battle for fifth between Georgia and Romania?Pool C, with a surging Wallabies side, two strong competitors in Ireland and Italy, and a possible flashback to the cold war between the USA and Russia?Or Pool D, with the ever-dangerous Springboks, a strong Welsh side, two powerful island nations in Fiji and Samoa, and Namibia, hoping to punch above their weight on the world stage.So...thoughts?
 
Georgia could actually finish third in their pool don't count out a shock win over Scotland or Argentina. And yes Pool D cause everyone should FEAR NAMIBIA!!!!

Join my prediction pools for Premiership and Pro 12 this year my friends check them out in the Off Topic section of the forum.
 
Yup - got to be pool D for me


Samoa are on good form at the moment, with a strong team and having just beaten Australia for the first time. Also had a long time together training as a team, which is a luxury P.I nations don't usually get (in non-RWC years anyway)
Wales are on decent form - not amazing, but looking solid as a unit and have some great players in their team
South Africa aren't on the best form they've been in, but have the potential to be great - also are one of the best teams are shutting down the opposition and grinding out a win kick by kick
Namibia - not the strongest.....would've be surprised if they got no points in the group stage, as sad as that is (I never like to see a team go pointless at a WC - hopefully they put in some performances that do them proud, even if they're not going to beat the likes of SA)
 
TRF_Olyy said:
Yup - got to be pool D for me


Samoa are on good form at the moment, with a strong team and having just beaten Australia for the first time. Also had a long time together training as a team, which is a luxury P.I nations don't usually get (in non-RWC years anyway)
Wales are on decent form - not amazing, but looking solid as a unit and have some great players in their team
South Africa aren't on the best form they've been in, but have the potential to be great - also are one of the best teams are shutting down the opposition and grinding out a win kick by kick
Namibia - not the strongest.....would've be surprised if they got no points in the group stage, as sad as that is (I never like to see a team go pointless at a WC - hopefully they put in some performances that do them proud, even if they're not going to beat the likes of SA)
Click to expand...

I also felt bad for Namibia, I was hoping they would get drawn with Romania or Russia games they could possibly win, I don't think we will see them get pasted 142-0 ever again though like in 2003. I actually think the pools are fairly even this time around, Pool A probably has the most locked in QF's teams but the battle for third should be intense. Pool B could be anyones guess on advancing and the Georgians are a threat. Pool C is all about whether teams can upset the one who is slightly better then them, and Pool D should be thrilling.

Don't forget finishing 3rd in a pool gains you automatic qualification for 2015 RWC.
 
I didn't realise that - that's good for some of the lower nations


I also think Georgia could pull an upset - I could see Scotland beating Argentina and losing to Georgia, for example
 
I also think there is an outside chance of France advancing with two losses, losing to the AB's and then being beaten by either Japan, Tonga or Canada if they field a weak lineup and get caught by surprise but other three teams all split their games, bonus points could be crucial in Pool's B and D.
 
Hmm, france fielded there weaker lineup and still beat Ireland (not full strenght either, but not far from). So can't see that happening really, or they have on of there offdays :p.

Or... they beat NZ and then lose to Japan :p. Meaning Japan should be the best in the world...?
 
Moody Fool said:
Hello all.I am fairly new to watching international rugby and I wanted to pick people's brains as to which pool has the stiffest (and strongest) competition.Pool A, with perennial powerhouse NZ and the always dangerous French, followed by the closely matched Tonga, Japan and Canada sides..
Click to expand...
Good question.

Strongest ---> Weakest
A->C->D->B

There's no tri-nations team in Pool B.
Most competitive Pool? That's an entirely different question:

Most-competitive (3 horse race) ---> Least-Competitive (outright winners)
D->B->A->C
 
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JW. said:
Hmm, france fielded there weaker lineup and still beat Ireland (not full strenght either, but not far from). So can't see that happening really, or they have on of there offdays :p.

Or... they beat NZ and then lose to Japan :p. Meaning Japan should be the best in the world...?
Click to expand...
adn we fielded a sub-par lineup against them, and you. A second team was played against Scotland.
 
I'd call that Irish side that you played vs France nearly full strenght to be honest, you missed Kearny and Wallace? And thats about it from what I can see? But nevermind that just tried to make a point that the french weaker side is still a pretty good side.
 
But it's strongest pool accross the board. e.g pool B vs C. Australia better than England (I know Argentina are 1st seeds but England are the better team) Ireland are better than Argentina (I think they're higher in rankings anyway) Scotland are better than italy, Georgia are better than the USA, Romania are better than Russia, so I'd say these groups are about even because the top two teams in group c are better and the third place teams are very close. I would say that pool c is stronger if Ireland start to perform because near their best their as good as England. EDIT: damn iPod won't let me quote properly I was supposed to quote calculons first post.
 
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JW. said:
I'd call that Irish side that you played vs France nearly full strenght to be honest, you missed Kearny and Wallace? And thats about it from what I can see? But nevermind that just tried to make a point that the french weaker side is still a pretty good side.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you're not far wrong.
 

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