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Forums - Sports Discussion - Rugby World Cup 2019 Official Thread kick off today!

 

Who will be in the winner?

Australia 1 11.11%
 
Ireland 2 22.22%
 
New Zealand 4 44.44%
 
England 0 0%
 
South Africa 1 11.11%
 
Wales 0 0%
 
Scotland 0 0%
 
Argentina 0 0%
 
Japan 0 0%
 
USA 1 11.11%
 
Total:9

Rugby World cup kicks off this weekend :)



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Ka-pi96 said:
Woo, opening day!

Looking forward to watching the game, should be an easy win for Japan today and then we get into some good games tomorrow!

Only a few hours away now. NZ vs SA in the first round is intense! Who are you rooting for? 



think-man said:
Ka-pi96 said:
Woo, opening day!

Looking forward to watching the game, should be an easy win for Japan today and then we get into some good games tomorrow!

Only a few hours away now. NZ vs SA in the first round is intense! Who are you rooting for? 

Kind of ridiculous to have the two best teams in the same pool, but on the flip side, when you consider the next best team in their pool is Italy they should both walk into the knockouts.
The main consequence of this match is the loser will likely have to face Ireland in the quarters.


The other pools will have more interest, because while there's clear favourites in every one, I can realistically see teams pulling off upsets in all of them:

Pool A- Should be an easy top seed for Ireland, but I can see Japan or even Samoa nipping off the Scotts on a good day. Always nice to see the host team go far in the tourny too (unless they're England).

Pool C- The Pool of Death. England, Argentina and France all coming into this World Cup on relative equal standings, with England being the orthodox favourites. Given the erratic nature of how France and Argentina perform, I could see them dropping games to Tonga or even the US (it wouldn't be a first for France to lose to Tonga in a World Cup either, so definitely one to watch).

Pool D- This called almost be called The Pool of Death 2. Australia and Wales should be clear favourites, but they've been two of the more inconsistent teams in recent years, whereas Georgia and Fiji have really been on the up. I can definitely see Georgia maybe sneaking in to the knockouts, and Fiji maybe causing a team some problems.

One of the biggest factors to watch for early in this World Cup is how the teams will deal with the climate and playing conditions. Most of the top teams won't be used to the extreme heat and possible humidity, and it's what most of the concern has been around down here for New Zealanders.
Definitely not as much confidence going into this World Cup for the ABs as there was last time, but on paper you still have to like our odds.



Shaunodon said:
think-man said:

Only a few hours away now. NZ vs SA in the first round is intense! Who are you rooting for? 

Kind of ridiculous to have the two best teams in the same pool, but on the flip side, when you consider the next best team in their pool is Italy they should both walk into the knockouts.
The main consequence of this match is the loser will likely have to face Ireland in the quarters.


The other pools will have more interest, because while there's clear favourites in every one, I can realistically see teams pulling off upsets in all of them:

Pool A- Should be an easy top seed for Ireland, but I can see Japan or even Samoa nipping off the Scotts on a good day. Always nice to see the host team go far in the tourny too (unless they're England).

Pool C- The Pool of Death. England, Argentina and France all coming into this World Cup on relative equal standings, with England being the orthodox favourites. Given the erratic nature of how France and Argentina perform, I could see them dropping games to Tonga or even the US (it wouldn't be a first for France to lose to Tonga in a World Cup either, so definitely one to watch).

Pool D- This called almost be called The Pool of Death 2. Australia and Wales should be clear favourites, but they've been two of the more inconsistent teams in recent years, whereas Georgia and Fiji have really been on the up. I can definitely see Georgia maybe sneaking in to the knockouts, and Fiji maybe causing a team some problems.

One of the biggest factors to watch for early in this World Cup is how the teams will deal with the climate and playing conditions. Most of the top teams won't be used to the extreme heat and possible humidity, and it's what most of the concern has been around down here for New Zealanders.
Definitely not as much confidence going into this World Cup for the ABs as there was last time, but on paper you still have to like our odds.

I definitely agree with what you've said, the NZ pool is the most predictable. I'm really interested in pool C and A the most. I'd love to see Japan make the play offs. 



Ka-pi96 said:
Glad that Japan ended up getting the bonus point, but that wasn't exactly an encouraging performance. They looked awfully dodgy at times. Really hope they improve for the Scotland/Samoa games at least. Come on, please get through to the knockout rounds!

I thought Japan would walk over Russia, but you're right, they didn't looking very good xD 



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Ka-pi96 said:
ugh, Australia were losing when I left work but by the time I got home they'd scored another 4 tries and won

Would've loved to have seen a nice early upset like that. Oh well, hopefully there's one soon. Really looking forward to the other 2 games today too!

I was cheering for Fiji xD also Argentina vs France was very close. Currently watching the All Blacks vs South Africa :D



Ka-pi96 said:
think-man said:

I was cheering for Fiji xD also Argentina vs France was very close. Currently watching the All Blacks vs South Africa :D

Yeah, I think Argentina made a mistake going for that long range kick right at the end, they should've tried to get up the pitch and then went for an easier kick.

And I'm watching the game too, bet you're pretty pleased by it so far

Was a bit worried at the start, but the All Blacks are world class :P



Ka-pi96 said:
think-man said:

I was cheering for Fiji xD also Argentina vs France was very close. Currently watching the All Blacks vs South Africa :D

Yeah, I think Argentina made a mistake going for that long range kick right at the end, they should've tried to get up the pitch and then went for an easier kick.

And I'm watching the game too, bet you're pretty pleased by it so far

That kick was well within his range and when you have the points on offer you gotta take it.

ABs looked poor the first 15-20mins, but a couple moments of brilliance really sparked them back into the game and they kept control from there.



Just wondering why they have to start all bunched up holding each other then ref tosses in ball.



sethnintendo said:

Just wondering why they have to start all bunched up holding each other then ref tosses in ball.

Do you mean the scrum? That's the half back. The ref would never touch the ball.