Rugby World Cup 2011

[Unorthodox]

With the Rugby World Cup looming was just wondering if we have any fans anticipating the event here on Mmo Champion?

I am particularly interested in the performance given and differences between the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere teams and how the difference in the reffing of the game from NH and SH will interfere with the outcomes of the games throughout the tournament. If anything i can see this having a dampening effect on some Northern Hemisphere teams including many of the 6 nations squads with regards to Penalties and at the set pieces.

Of course i will be supporting the local team but i will definitely have my eyes out for some of the Pacific Island teams eg Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. Always a joy to watch when it comes to the Rugby world cup!

Honestly i believe the main contenders for the World cup are going to be identified this weekend with the final game of the Tri Nations between Australia and New Zealand. Going into the world cup with the win surely will have the Psychological effect going into the games on who we may see in the Semi & Final of the tournament.

If you are a fan the main questions are:

- How do you think the Northern Hemisphere will fare against the South?
- What team are you going to support?
- Any predictions for who we might see getting out of the group stages?
- Ultimately who do you think has the best chance of winning it?


I honestly think despite being an Irishman it will be Southern Hemisphere winner mainly due to the physicality of the game and the closeness of the Southern Rugby season favouring against the Northern Hemisphere teams.

Main support will be for Ireland no doubt. I think the squad is a tiny bit more prepared then the disaster of 07. Surviving the Group stages is possible for the team with the Australia game being the big decider on whether we can put the performance in or not. I'm thinking at best a Quarter final but that may be as far as they will go.

Based on each Group:

Pool A

Canada
France
Japan
New Zealand
Tonga

Group A almost has a guaranteed slot for New Zealand and France to Qualify out from it. Tonga however have a very good chance at perhaps out pacing France with their highly physical game and will be interesting to see.

Pool B

Argentina
England
Georgia
Romania
Scotland

Group B is a tough one. England can perform on the occasion of a world cup setting. They had an impressive 6 nations and if they bring some of the class seen then rather than the world cup warm up games they could get far. Argentina is a reasonably strong side with little international experience throughout the year. Will most likely be a tie between Argentina and Scotland to collect the 2nd spot of this pool.
Pool C

Australia
Ireland
Italy
Russia
United States

Pool C has an guaranteed spot for Australia in my honest opinion. Ireland can produce the performance when its needed but have performed horribly in the World cup setting due to high expectations being placed on them. Will have to see when they come out of the dressing room for the games rather than place the bets now. Italy are on the rise based on 6 nations performance and could be up in the running for a spot but I don't think they quite have the squad just yet to get much further.

Pool D

Fiji
Namibia
Samoa
South Africa
Wales

For the Pool of Death group D i would have a very hard time making a choice here as all of these nations have played outstanding rugby in world cup settings previously. South Africa have the class and charisma but I cannot put my finger on who will be 2nd to join them out of the group stages.

In the end the Rugby world cup can go anyway it wants for any squad in contention for it based on injuries and some shock results which can lead to anyone's game. For shear world class performances I think it may be New Zealand's year to get their hands on the World cup in their own home.

Thought I might get the rugby world cup discussion rolling as i have not found one yet on Mmo Champion so far, apologies if there is already one.

[Deleted]

Wales is going to win.

[Deleted]

i thought only like 6 countries played rugby professionally?

---------- Post added 2011-08-26 at 12:15 AM ----------

but go England! i have no idea how good/bad we are at rugby

[Unorthodox]

In terms of proffesional play i believe the 6 nations of the North and the Tri Nations of the South soon to be Quad nations with the inclusion of Argentina into the tournament ( or atleast talks of bringing them in) all play at a proffesional level. I believe the rest play at an Amature level and/or play for clubs in the proffesional leagues.

England is currently ranked 5 th in the world and had the chance of claiming the Grandslam this year in the 6 nations championship. They lost the Grand slam game but won the 6 nations overall for winning 4 out of the 5 games of the 6 nations if you are wondering Peggle

[Deleted]

since when did Canada and the US play rugby?!

[Unorthodox]

According the wikipedia-
Canada has been playing international rugby since the early 1930s, making their debut in 1932 against Japan. Canada have competed at every World Cup since the tournament was first staged in 1987, the only North American team to do so.

I believe the USA team has been around since 1920 when they won the Olympic gold medal in rugby.

If theres any of you lot out there who has not seen the sport this should give you a bit more of an understanding of what it is.

[Fuzzzie]

since when did Canada and the US play rugby?!

Rugby is somewhat popular here (in Canada) although it (like a lot of sports here) get tuned out by Hockey. As Unorthodox mentioned, the World Cup gets some attention. A friend of mine also offered me tickets for the match with the US a few weeks back, but I couldn't make it. We won 28-22

[koodledrum]

Canada & the US have been playing in RWC for years, certainly as far back as i can remember (1995).

I'm looking forward to it, i know Scotland aren't going to win it (i was fortunate enough to watch us play the All Blacks in the Autumn Tests and well, it wasn't exactly pleasant viewing for the Scotland support!) but minimum QF's for us at the very least, key to it is how the groups pan out & the big picture comes in the England game. If a situation arises that England & Scotland are already through but it's to see who wins & who finishes second, if England would get an "easier" tie out of coming second I could see us having an easier ride.

What i don't like though is the blatant disrespect of England's "change" kit, you're going to New Zealand it's obvious that change kit is a wind up for the NZ supporters & tradition, something which could prove very dangerous should England happen to run into the All Blacks at some point in the tournament.

How are the Northern Hemisphere going to do, well, outside England we're not going to win it (i doubt they're going to either), I haven't seen the Aussies play in a while but NZ looked pretty professional in the Autumn and capable of capitalising on minor mistakes for big enough damage, again i've not seen any South Africa games, but they have a habbit of being quite tricky when the time comes.

[skílganon]

Being Irish and knowing how well we usually do at World Cup's, Im not holding out much hope for us. We've got a great team on paper, just cannot seem to pull it together. As for the NH sides this year, I think France is the only team that has a chance to make it to the finals. England have proved in the past that they can upset the odds, but this time under Martin Johnson they've left themselves with too big a mountain to climb. I'll be watching the World Cup all through, luckilly my raiding won't suffer cos of the timing of the matches in respect to New Zealand/Irish timezones.

NZ will win this time (and about time).

[Unorthodox]

Doesnt look good for the Irish on the backfoot of 4 losses in a row in the pre rugby world cup test matches. Not saying this is the end of the road for dreams of a decent performance but I am severely worried about the prospects of even qualifying from out of the group.

Very happy about the Tri nations result for Australia. Confirms the thought in my mind of an Australia New Zealand final!

Overally cannot wait now at this stage!

[Deleted]

I'm hoping for Wales to get at least to the quarters, our last two games were played really well especially considering a big part of the team were green players, including a first cap for Lloyd Williams. Think we're finally getting the strength in depth that we've needed for a while with some quality back up players. However i feel our team is a bit too young so i'm not expecting great things, just hoping for them!

Pretty tough group, Samoa and Fiji have been our downfall plenty of times before, as well as SA, but they've just come last in the Tri-nations so maybe spirits will be down? Looks set to be a good WC anyway, and i'll be up watching every morning since i'm on my gap year and have nothing to sleep for. Great timing.

[Deleted]

I struggle to see any team beating New Zealand at the moment assuming NZ actually turn up and play. That being said they don't have the best record when it comes to the world cup. Still their current form makes them pretty intimidating especially on home soil.

Australia are always strong as are South Africa. France again can produce outstanding rugby however they have big highs followed by awful lows. They either crush or get crushed.

Last world cup I would have laughed if you told me England would be in the final. I got proved wrong. I still don't think we have the squad to win the thing but semi finals or better are totally possible.

I still can't see Newe Zealand being beaten though.

[Vinictus]

Wales all the way

[Deleted]

In terms of proffesional play i believe the 6 nations of the North and the Tri Nations of the South soon to be Quad nations with the inclusion of Argentina into the tournament ( or atleast talks of bringing them in) all play at a proffesional level. I believe the rest play at an Amature level and/or play for clubs in the proffesional leagues.

England is currently ranked 5 th in the world and had the chance of claiming the Grandslam this year in the 6 nations championship. They lost the Grand slam game but won the 6 nations overall for winning 4 out of the 5 games of the 6 nations if you are wondering Peggle

Sorry, I know this was Nike and not England themselves jumping the gun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB5eu0EwK34

[Deleted]

I'm so damn amped for the RWC :')
May cause a few conflicts though (I'm Irish, my better half is South African) - there may be a Quarter Final clash if Ireland decide to kick things up a notch, not exactly going into it in the best form.
Group stages, well, I'm opting for - NZ/Fra, Eng/Arg, Aus/Ire, SA/Wales.
Ultimately I have to support Ireland, failing that it has to be the Boks - despite both teams not producing their best rugby in recent games. New Zealand is always one to watch but may buckle under the 'host nation' pressure.
Overall, I'll back the Boks for a 3rd win - but I'll never hear the end of it.

[Unorthodox]

Hah Liota, i infact remember watching that ad come on after the game on the BBC. I have to admit the pub chuckled for about 5 min

[gabrield]

With the exception of England there is a huge gap between the northern and southern teams, and this is only going to get bigger when Argentina joins the tri nations (becoming quad nations) next year. The northern teams can pull of some pretty good upsets such as Munster beating Australia last year or that damned France. My money is on an England All Blacks final with the All Blacks finally winning another world cup breaking this damn jinx.

[Raxxed]

Hello everyone.
I am a New Zealander and with the Rugby World cup starting on Friday - Just wanted to share some thought.
I personally don't think this country can sustain the amount of people that will be coming in. Our population is around 4.5million.
Basically everyone in Auckland CBD (Including people I know who work at very important jobs) are almost forced to take Friday off. They can get into work, but the CBD will be filled with thousands of people that they cannot get out.
Not only that, but the stress and the hype from the rugby enthusiasts (I strongly dislike rugby.. more so now) combined with the excessive drinking that goes on in New Zealand, there could more than likely be riots if we lose our first game.
What do you guys think. Was it a good Idea to let NZ host the world cup? I personally think that it was a rather terrible idea considering our economy and the way that we deal with loss (excessive drinking) which could certainly lead to issues in the short/long run

[Deleted]

Well, aren't you just a pocket full of sunshine.

There are proven national economic benefits to hosting large sporting competitions that far outweigh mild traffic disruptions. This is in addition to infrastructure upgrades and maintanence spurred on by the events.

The freakin' world cup is being hosted in your country! Go watch some rugby, get drunk and grab some boobs.

[kamikaze148]

Im in Auckland. and i cant wait for the RWC to be over and done with.

I for one hate Rugby with a fiery passion. What could have been a cool event/festival for our country has turned into a massive marketing/sales oppurtunity.

Overhyped. Overbudget. Overcapacity. Over it before its begun. -_-