[JoeyLeone25]

I'm not a huge Rugby Union fan by any means, but when the World Cup is on, I'll always find a way to watch it. Just been a brilliant match between Ireland (8th) and Australia (2nd), with Ireland achieving their first win over Australia in the World Cup, ever 15-6! Also a lot of the matches are on when I'm just getting up for work, so that works out as well!

[ThePinkFloydSound]

Surprised there hasn't been a topic yet. Well great win for Ireland today. I'm chuffed. After the wonky win over U.S.A. last week we were all worried but Ireland showed their true potential today.

England game should be interesting tomorrow but the real one I'll be looking out for will be Italy V Russia.

This post has been edited by ThePinkFloydSound on Saturday, Sep 17 2011, 14:28

[Iminicus]

Been a pretty fantastic atmosphere here in New Zealand with the Cup on. Hamilton was raging, apparently, on the weekend thanks to the All Blacks v Japan game and the Welsh v Samoa game. Looking forward to the clash between New Zealand and France this week.

USA seem hopeful at beating the Australians after their humiliating loss to Ireland on the weekend. I don't think the USA will win ( would love if they did ) but I do think they will kill Robbie Dean's prospects of actually continuing to be the Wallabies coach after 2012.

Thanks to Ireland, it looks like it will be a North- South Hemisphere final. Which is better for the sport than what all the South African, Australian and New Zealand commentators have been harping on about since 2009.

It looks like Australia will get knocked out after the pool games, as they come up against South Africa. England will either face the French or New Zealand. Of course, that will be determined after the NZ v France game.

I don't think England can beat the All Blacks in the quarter finals, if they face them. They have a better chance of beating the French, yet, I want the French to bring the All Blacks down once again. I'm fed up with the overt cockiness of this All Black squad and their supporters, both the locals and the media.

Unfortunately, the All Blacks won't be holding back due to Richie McCaw playing his 100th Test Cap. He will be the first All Black to play 100 Test Caps, putting both the team and himself under immense pressure. Knowing how the All Blacks play under pressure, I see them failing to beat the French.

At the moment, the strongest teams are the South Africans, the English, the All Blacks and surprisingly the Irish. The Australians are out, and the Welsh don't stand a chance to go further than 2nd in their Pool, if they are lucky.

[Jay]

QUOTE (Iminicus @ Monday, Sep 19 2011, 15:03)

I don't think England can beat the All Blacks in the quarter finals

They'd have to wear their regular strip for that, seriously? What they've come out with for this Cup is a total dick move.

[Iminicus]

QUOTE (Jay @ Sunday, Sep 18 2011, 22:05)

QUOTE (Iminicus @ Monday, Sep 19 2011, 15:03) I don't think England can beat the All Blacks in the quarter finals They'd have to wear their regular strip for that, seriously? What they've come out with for this Cup is a total dick move.

Except the All Blacks have used a White jersey before.

England was only using the Black jersey against Argentina anyway, so if they face the All Blacks, they will have their white jersey.

[ThePinkFloydSound]

I only watched the highlights of the France V Canada game and I was impressed by the little score difference up until the end when France got those couple of tries even if it was mainly France's 'second' team.

[Iminicus]

Drawing close to the biggest game to date in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. I'm talking about New Zealand v France. But more importantly, we have USA v Australia. Australia are still feeling the sting of losing to Ireland last weekend. I hope the defeat to Ireland has crushed the Aussie spirit, not that I want them out. I'd rather have Aussie in the final than the f*cking All Blacks. I just want the USA to defeat or traumatize them some more. I'd be happy with the USA making it a very close game or winning. I'm probably hoping for too much with a USA win, but f*ck it. The USA winning against the Aussie's will help rugby in America exponentially.

Anyway, some good games this weekend.

[zyonig]

Yeah Rugby World cup. Brilliant.

Australia were a relatively long-odds bet even before the tournament and the Ireland result went a long way to proving that. Yet, there are plenty of games to go yet. I of course have some money on the mighty Scotland to win, HAHA. Well honestly i kissed that money goodbye when I laid the bet but at 100-1 it was worth a shot. I suppose If I was to make a prediction, I would probably say the All-blacks will win it . They might wobble a bit in the run up to the final, but the home advantage will probably see them through......

[Iminicus]

QUOTE (zyonig @ Wednesday, Sep 21 2011, 23:36)

Yeah Rugby World cup. Brilliant. Australia were a relatively long-odds bet even before the tournament and the Ireland result went a long way to proving that. Yet, there are plenty of games to go yet. I of course have some money on the mighty Scotland to win, HAHA. Well honestly i kissed that money goodbye when I laid the bet but at 100-1 it was worth a shot. I suppose If I was to make a prediction, I would probably say the All-blacks will win it . They might wobble a bit in the run up to the final, but the home advantage will probably see them through......

All Blacks won't win it. They will choke, hopefully, against France this weekend and then against either South Africa or Australia. The All Blacks are always the favorites but they can't handle the pressure.

[Iminicus]

How the f*ck did Tonga beat France? f*ck me. It is like France doesn't want to win the World Cup. Oh well, this will make it easier for England in the Quarter Finals.

[zyonig]

QUOTE

How the f*ck did Tonga beat France? f*ck me. It is like France doesn't want to win the World Cup.

Haha, its like the football world cup again.

[Iminicus]

And so, we enter Quarter Finals Weekend.

First up:

Saturday at 6:00 pm: Wales vs Ireland
Saturday at 8:30 pm: ENGLAND vs The Frogs

Sunday at 6:00 pm: Australia vs South Africa
Sunday at 8:30 pm: New Zealand vs The Argies.

My predictions:

England beat France, Ireland beats Wales, South Africa beats Australia and New Zealand beats Argentina.

This means the semi finals will be:

England vs Ireland and South Africa vs New Zealand.

Though, to be honest, I think the Wales v Ireland game and the South Africa v Australia game could go either way. I suspect the French will put up a fight but I am not going to give up on England.

[zyonig]

QUOTE

My predictions: England beat France, Ireland beats Wales, South Africa beats Australia and New Zealand beats Argentina.

Yeah I pretty much agree with that, I would like to see Australia go through as I have money on them, but I don't think it will happen.

If this works out, England vs Ireland in the semi will be a great game. I am still sticking with my prediction and saying New Zealand to win. Probably over Ireland in the final. The Irish have been playing very well, particularly the backs in recent games. Now Scotland are out I will be cheering them on.

[Legacy-666_]

Bad luck Wales, should have been 10 in the sin bin rather than a red card. 15 vs 14 was always going to be a hard task, and you did awesome to hold France to 9 and only lose by 1. Rue those missed penalties.
NZ vs Australia tonight. The winner of this will cream France in the final. Go the All Blacks

[Stink_Fist]

And we will cream France, good game Australia.

[AceRay]

I think people are a bit too confident with the upcoming match. On their day, the French team are one of the best so I think the All Blacks shouldn't get too comfortable. I am expecting the ABs to win though.

[GerryM]

Fyi.

NEW ZEALAND WINS 8-7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_C..._vs_New_Zealand

[Iminicus]

QUOTE (GerryM @ Sunday, Oct 23 2011, 05:55)

Fyi. NEW ZEALAND WINS 8-7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_C..._vs_New_Zealand

f*ck the All Blacks, they didn't deserve the win.

[!!GameCH33TA!!]

No, they didn't deserve to win that particular game, but they did deserve to win the tournament.
Im glad that New Zealand are now World Champions.

[JoeyLeone25]

I was quite surprised at the Final, I personally expected the All Blacks to absolutely walk the game and leave a good twenty or thirty point gap between themselves and France. But I have to give the French their dues, they picked up their game a little and while both sides were nervous (facing upto the Haka? Marvelous!), once the game went to 8-7, I couldn't stop thinking that there's a good twenty minutes left here and everybody loves an underdog story, don't they? Unfortunately it wasn't to be and the All Blacks, took what was probably a deserved title for a very well played tournament.