Who'll win the World Cup

[SPIDER18]

France will win this RWC

They are at home and that's very important for a latin team [/b]

one, france is not a latin team. two, their home advantage is severely overated (nz47-3france at home in paris last year).WAKE UP :%#%#: .

 

[prolate_spheroid]

Dull though it may be, I can't see past NZ.

 

[timmyhoran]

Dull though it may be, I can't see past NZ. [/b]

I can see straight past NZ to Australia. 3 WC finals, 2 times champions, no pressure, never beaten by NZ at a world cup, heaps of experiance in Vickerman, Sharpe, Smith, Gregan, Larkam, Giteau, Morlock, Tuqiri and Latham. They've got as good a chance as anyone.

 

[thiste]

You may live to regret this post my good man. France have nothing to be cocky about. I'm not being cocky about Ireland, I just know what they have the potential to do.[/b]

France has nothing to be cocky about indeed. It's not a couple of pre-WC friendlies that will prove the value of a team, even if I have to say that I quite like our chances. I must ask you not to take one person's opinion for our country's or people's one though. I for one do not agree one bit with what that other french guy said, and I can tell you not only I but the French team as a whole takes Ireland's side very seriously.

As mentioned elsewhere in case you didn't notice an iffy Irish performance without their star player should have been enough to beat France in the 6N. One moment of utter madness blew that away but if I were French I would be counting my lucky stars on that one rather than preaching about how Ireland don't have a hope. [/b]

I really think Ireland has a great potential in this WC but I must also point out that I believe our XV de France is a lot stronger than in the 6N. It's gonna be a real tough call in our "group of death" even if I still have some reserves about Argentina.

 

[charlievolano]

What do you mean France is not a latin team????

anyway i think i'll put some money on australia or south africa. I am pretty sure the Abs are gonna screw it again

 

[prolate_spheroid]

I can see straight past NZ to Australia. 3 WC finals, 2 times champions, no pressure, never beaten by NZ at a world cup, heaps of experiance in Vickerman, Sharpe, Smith, Gregan, Larkam, Giteau, Morlock, Tuqiri and Latham. They've got as good a chance as anyone.
[/b]

Hmmm. When you put it like that, Australia do look like a more atractive proposition. Add to that the fact that Australia managed to beat them during the Tri Nations. But the ABs can't choke again... surely?

 

[elgringoborracho]

Everyone has said very valid things, even those who mention Ireland, which definitely is a world class team. France playing at home can lead to two things:

A. We win the RWC, at home, in front of the fans, rugby becomes the most popular sport in the country (over f***in football), in the next three or four years we have an army of young talented players and we become the best team in the world.

B. We don't even make it to the quarter finals, because:
_ Twice in a row (ie against Ireland and Argentina) we have "one of those days", and i'm not talking about a "kicking the AB's ass in 99" day, i'm talking about a "making the world think that Ronan O'Gara is anything else than a belly dancer" day.
_ Chabal eats a Georgian player, and France is evicted from the tournament.
If that happens, all the interest in rugby fades away in France, popular classes go back to football and within three or four years we become crap again.
Hope B doesn't happen

 

[rugby_roots]

If France wins it than Rugby is seriously going to take-off in Europe and we could see Rugby competing with Soccer. France winning the RWC will seriously promote the game of rugby.

 

[KZNSharksFan]

I think we are going to have a surprise.

I would vote for New Zeland, but maybe Ireland can beat them... i hope O' Driscoll is fine to play.

I could beet the final will be between AB and Ireland. And the semi dont know between France, Australia and SA.
[/b]

SWEET MOTHER MARY!!!! Ireland are rubbish rubbish rubbish!!!! They will struggle to make the final four!!! They only just beat Italy, ITALY after a blatantly forward pass! And they had all their "stars"(well O'driscoll is insanely good but the rest are average)

 

[BOD=GOD]

SWEET MOTHER MARY!!!! Ireland are rubbish rubbish rubbish!!!! They will struggle to make the final four!!! They only just beat Italy, ITALY after a blatantly forward pass! And they had all their "stars"(well O'driscoll is insanely good but the rest are average) [/b]

Actually Ireland were missing their most important players in Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Horgan and David Wallace, and if you want to talk about dodgy tries then Italy's try should not have been as it was clear Murphy was tackled off the ball when he was chasing the kick.

To be honest I don't think it's fair to call Ireland rubbish our starting 15 has only lost 1 game this year against France in the last minute, I seem to recall an Ireland team missing players still managing to completely destroy South Africa and Australia in the November tests.

 

[SPIDER18]

What do you mean France is not a latin team????

anyway i think i'll put some money on australia or south africa. I am pretty sure the Abs are gonna screw it again
[/b]

a "latin" team would be a team from latin america i.e. argentina. no chance of an nh winning this year and to all those talking up ireland, your dreaming. if they want to win the world cup they would have to beat france and that lokks very unlikely. they'll make for great cannon fodder in the quarters though

 

[davo]

Australia or France

 

[elk jimenez]

<div class='quotemain'> What do you mean France is not a latin team????

anyway i think i'll put some money on australia or south africa. I am pretty sure the Abs are gonna screw it again
[/b]

a "latin" team would be a team from latin america i.e. argentina. no chance of an nh winning this year and to all those talking up ireland, your dreaming. if they want to win the world cup they would have to beat france and that lokks very unlikely. they'll make for great cannon fodder in the quarters though
[/b][/quote]


Technically Latin countries are all those whose language derives from Latin, so Italy, Spain, Romania, Portugal and all Latin America belong to this category.

By the way, I think the Springboks will win the WC

cheers

 

[KZNSharksFan]

<div class='quotemain'>

SWEET MOTHER MARY!!!! Ireland are rubbish rubbish rubbish!!!! They will struggle to make the final four!!! They only just beat Italy, ITALY after a blatantly forward pass! And they had all their "stars"(well O'driscoll is insanely good but the rest are average) [/b]

Actually Ireland were missing their most important players in Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Horgan and David Wallace, and if you want to talk about dodgy tries then Italy's try should not have been as it was clear Murphy was tackled off the ball when he was chasing the kick.

To be honest I don't think it's fair to call Ireland rubbish our starting 15 has only lost 1 game this year against France in the last minute, I seem to recall an Ireland team missing players still managing to completely destroy South Africa and Australia in the November tests.
[/b][/quote]

Please, for the sake of everyones sanity, know the facts before you make a statement. South Africa took a 3rd XV to Europe.3rd!!!!. And that is no exageration at all. No Burger, Matfield, Montgomery etc etc etc. ireland had a practically full team and hardly "demolished" South Africa. I mean no offense, but anyone who considers Ireland as a chance for the RWC should consult their Doctor urgently. Who agrees?

 

[rugbypassion]

I reckon New Zealand will win.
They have great speed throughout the backline, outstanding skills in the fly half and centre positions, and strength all through the team.
Their forward pack is mean, experienced, versatile and powerful.
It will take a massive effort to beat them.

 

[mylogin]

What do you mean France is not a latin team????

Technically Latin countries are all those whose language derives from Latin, so Italy, Spain, Romania, Portugal and all Latin America belong to this category.

By the way, I think the Springboks will win the WC

cheers
[/b]

Latin is also usually used to refer to European countries that board the mediterranean sea. Furthermore, these countries share many common points in terms of behaviours and mentality, as opposed to the northern European countries. By extension, the south americans are also called latin, because of their mediterranean roots.

Apart from that, I expect NZ to play the final. At this very moment, SA, Aussies and France are my favourites too. England could be a serious outsider as well because I'm sure their recent results raised enough questions about their tactics to allow relevant corrections. Pride could do the rest.

To those who rate France on the basis of their latest defeats against NZ, don't forget that their season was over at that time and many 1st team players were not playing. Doesn't necessarily mean they've reached the AB's level today, but for sure if you expect the same performance, you could be surprised.

 

[Museite]

I expect the ABs to win, they have to win it at some point. Outside of them it's only going to be one of the Tri-Nations teams.

 

[shtove]

<div class='quotemain'>
<div class='quotemain'>

SWEET MOTHER MARY!!!! Ireland are rubbish rubbish rubbish!!!! They will struggle to make the final four!!! They only just beat Italy, ITALY after a blatantly forward pass! And they had all their "stars"(well O'driscoll is insanely good but the rest are average) [/b]

Actually Ireland were missing their most important players in Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Horgan and David Wallace, and if you want to talk about dodgy tries then Italy's try should not have been as it was clear Murphy was tackled off the ball when he was chasing the kick.

To be honest I don't think it's fair to call Ireland rubbish our starting 15 has only lost 1 game this year against France in the last minute, I seem to recall an Ireland team missing players still managing to completely destroy South Africa and Australia in the November tests.
[/b][/quote]

Please, for the sake of everyones sanity, know the facts before you make a statement. South Africa took a 3rd XV to Europe.3rd!!!!. And that is no exageration at all. No Burger, Matfield, Montgomery etc etc etc. ireland had a practically full team and hardly "demolished" South Africa. I mean no offense, but anyone who considers Ireland as a chance for the RWC should consult their Doctor urgently. Who agrees?
[/b][/quote]

Here's the SA line up against Ireland in Nov 06:

South Africa: B Fortuin; J Pretorious, B Habana, J de Villiers, F Steyn; A Pretorious, R Januarie; L Sephaka, J Smit (capt), CJ van der Linde; J Ackerman, A van den Berg, D Rossouw, J Smith, P Spies.
Replacements: C Ralepelle, BJ Botha, J Muller, J Cronje, R Pienaar, W Olivier, JP Pietersen.

Now convince me that is a thirds team - looks like more than 1/2 of the full team lined out. And the scoreboard was made respectable by an amazing try against the run of play, set up by Steyn and finished by Habana.

People keep trying the same myth with Ireland's defeat of Australia at the same time. Fact is, the Wallabies who lined out against us were slightly better on paper than the Wallabies who beat the ABs a couple of months ago - Latham and Rogers were present, Gregan was absent. And they were lucky to score their single penalty.

But it's all academic, unless you believe that Ireland are timed to peak in the autumn.

 

[RC]

There must be some kind of southern hemisphere syndrome that affects everyone below that equatorial. An effect that makes them believe that no NH team has a chance of taking that trophy.
IMO Ireland and France have just as much a chance as Oz and SA do. NZ have a slightly better chance of lifting the trophy.

 

[thom]

i hope a north team will win because it's always the third south team which can win.