Rugby World Cup 2023

[RoomWithABrew]

Yeah prob not the ideal breakfast beer...

Unless England were playing the final!!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

That was an amazing game.

 

[Slid]

Wow, what a result for Ireland
Plenty of the Guinness going down before midnight.

 

[sifty]

Great game.
NO cards issued, how refreshing...

Likely now that from pools A and B Ireland will meet NZ and France v South Africa in the knock-out quarters.

Pool C still a lottery and England will top pool D...

 

[Pavros]

Brilliant game tonight and the crowd belting out Zombie after the whistle added to the atmosphere

 

[Covrich]

Yeah, can't see Italy or Scotland causing any upsets now. It does almost seem like the quarter on that side are set up now

Great game, on another day SA works have won that but Ireland look more clinical.

I'm not sure NZ can beat this Irish side ATM but who knows.

Looking forward to Wales Australia. Wales win then Australia are probably going home. Australia win, then it's wide open!

 

[Covrich]

Australia are absolutely appalling. Can't do anything right and are being humiliated. Eddie Jones continues to be kryptonite for rugby teams.

So far unusually all the big southern Hemisphere match ups with Northern hemisphere have ended in defeat.

It's looking like

France Vs SA
NZ Vs Ireland
England Vs Fiji
Wales Vs Argentina

Might change but unlikely now

 

[sifty]

Oof yeah 40-6 to Wales. Didn't pick that.

Agree with your predictions. Think only Scotland can change things if they beat Ireland. Potentially Ireland, South Africa and Scotland could all finish on 14/15 points, depending on bonus points.

Some good games to come...

 

[sifty]

All Blacks just ran in 96 points against Italy, who scored 17. A big score against a 6N team.

Will give them confidence and some good cohesion between combinations, but hard to say what this bodes for playing against teams with better defensive structures - (likely) Ireland in the quarters...

 

[sifty]

Interestingly, if Italy somehow beat France they will advance and France will be out (I think)...

So a few teams have to everything to play for yet in their remaining games.

France v Italy, Japan v Argentina and Ireland v Scotland are crucial matches...

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Romania down to 12 men could be hat tricks all round.

 

[sifty]

Fiji had a tight win over Georgia, bet Australia had their hopes up.
And yes Scotland have locked in their bonus point before half time.
They should put all their reserves on to protect players before the Ireland game...

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Fiji had a tight win over Georgia, bet Australia had their hopes up.
And yes Scotland have locked in their bonus point before half time.
They should put all their reserves on to protect players before the Ireland game...

I think they had a lot on at the start with 13 changes.

 

[Covrich]

Massive win for the All Blacks. Much needed confidence boost for them. Italy were absolutely dreadful in defence.

But it's good to see a strong AB makes the QF with Ireland (tbc) a really tasty one.

Scotland and Italy have it all to play for and Japan Argentina is a winner takes all match. At least we go into the final round with some actual meaningful games and not dead rubbers

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I know it's often mentioned but surely the 6 Nations should have promotion/relegation, Italy have not really improved in the last 15 years or so and look how well Georgia and maybe Portugal have acquitted themselves.

 

[sifty]

They are playing good rugby. Love seeing their passion...

 

[tondy79]

I know it's often mentioned but surely the 6 Nations should have promotion/relegation, Italy have not really improved in the last 15 years or so and look how well Georgia and maybe Portugal have acquitted themselves.

Pretty sure Georgia and Portugal have lost all their games so far, only drawing with each other?

I think if you took a look at Italian rugby even 5 years ago let alone 15 years versus today you would see significant improvement. If you look to the youth team coming through, even more improvement is evident and that is really the key to future competitive play.

Not saying that I don't agree with a promotion/relegation approach, and more meaningful matches for all tier 2 teams would be useful, although I do think overall it would discourage funding (at least in the Italy case) and lead to that "6th spot" always being a wooden spoon holder.

 

[sifty]

All sorts of maths being done now looking at the possible outcomes/final rankings after the final pool games...

I just hope there's some good rugby and no silly cards ruining things...

 

[sifty]

Time to be bold, my predictions for the quarters:

Wales v Argentina. Wales to win
Ireland v NZ. NZ to win
England v Fiji. England to win
France v South Africa. South Africa to win

Semis:
Wales v NZ. NZ to win
England v South Africa. South Africa to win

For a NZ v South Africa final...


Obviously a couple of games could go either way, I've picked against rankings/form and gone with WC experience...

Personally I'd like to see a NZ v Ireland final but looks like that can't happen. NZ v France would be a good spectacle, and may be on if Dupont returns in full form. These quarters are going to be cruel...

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Pretty sure Georgia and Portugal have lost all their games so far, only drawing with each other?

I think if you took a look at Italian rugby even 5 years ago let alone 15 years versus today you would see significant improvement. If you look to the youth team coming through, even more improvement is evident and that is really the key to future competitive play.

Not saying that I don't agree with a promotion/relegation approach, and more meaningful matches for all tier 2 teams would be useful, although I do think overall it would discourage funding (at least in the Italy case) and lead to that "6th spot" always being a wooden spoon holder.

Italy have won one game in the last 8 years and shipped 96 points against NZ. I just don't see the improvement.