Who's gonna win the World Cup??

philstar

Well, who's going to win it??

My money is on...surprise surprise..The all blacks

and you??

Agent Smith

Of Course I'd Love Ireland To win,

but my Hard Earned Cash in On the all Blacks

Snickers Man

"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.....but that's the way to bet"

It would be a major upset if New Zealand DIDN'T win it, but I'm going to risk my shekels on the theory that it will be a France Australia final.

Timans

England to win.

Would looove to see Ireland win it though.

nacho libre

I think New Zealand will crack under the pressure yet again.

South Africa for me.

Laslo

South Africa to win it on the strength of their massive men up front (and Brian Habana of course)

daveirl

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Creamy Goodness

Australia, i think will nip it.

Irish Wolf

daveirl wrote:

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wtf? What'd I miss - where did you pick up on this gem?

I'm gonna say South Africa..

daveirl

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Irish Wolf

daveirl wrote:

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Haha.. great stuff.. missed that story completely..

The story in the second link has been removed..

Funkstard

Don't think NZ will..something's telling me France will pull it off. My money's on them.

Pride Fighter

The only way Ireland can win it is if BOD is fit and playing in every game. We are a poor team without him. It will be us, France or Australia. NZ are cracking already.

Australia, my dark horse at 11/1. To beat France in the Final.

Marshy

Les Bleus

nacho libre

interesting...most people seem to think France will win. With that in mind how great would it be if they lost to Argentina tonight. Start as you mean to go on and all that:D

JC 2K3

nacho libre wrote:

interesting...most people seem to think France will win. With that in mind how great would it be if they lost to Argentina tonight. Start as you mean to go on and all that:D

Personally I'd rather have to beat Argentina than have to beat France to get out of our group(without the uncertainty of bonus points and points difference), so I'm behind the French tonight.

connundrum

Wow, there seems to be a lot of support for les bleus in that poll. I see France coming second in the group and ending the tournament in a tight game against NZ.

SA ftw

marius

There is no way S Africa are going to win the world Cup. The are a pretty average team who consistantly play crap away from home. They beat an absolutely brutal England (at home) a third string team who were racked with a virus, then proceeded to play well against the AB's (at home) their one good performance this year, but have shown nothing since. They have no backline and their forwards are not good enough to win it on their own, best value in the WC is to Lay them....

....IMO...:D

smok

I stuck a fiver on Ireland to win it - 20/1 and a fiver on Ireland to play NZ in final 10/1!
Im happy with that one!

jameshayes

France - NZ final... France to win....

Saibh

France will win - home advantage

Easy_81

Yep I'm going for France v Australia Final. France to win on home turf.

Also of the opinion that NZ will waltz through the group stage and crack in Quarters or Semi against the Aussies!

nacho libre

JC 2K3 wrote:

Personally I'd rather have to beat Argentina than have to beat France to get out of our group(without the uncertainty of bonus points and points difference), so I'm behind the French tonight.

It would be something special if Ireland were to knock France out of the competition:D
you're right though, Ireland are not good enough to top the group.

philstar

who's the two eejits that voted for Italy:rolleyes:

its rugby we're talkin about here not football

mikemac

I got Namibia in the office sweepstake.

Go Namibia!
Why no option OP?

nacho libre

Who are all these fools saying France will win the competition:p

testicle

micmclo wrote:

I got Namibia in the office sweepstake.

Go Namibia!
Why no option OP?

I got fecking Japan....

philstar

nacho libre wrote:

Who are all these fools saying France will win the competition:p

they still might, i wouldn't write them off just yet:cool:

nacho libre

philstar wrote:

they still might, i wouldn't write them off just yet:cool:

They'll have to create a bit of history in that case-
No side since the tournament's inception in 1987 has lost a game in the pool stages and still gone on to win the World Cup.

kinaldo

What did I miss? Only 7 months ago when I left this country everyone was saying Ireland were the 2nd best team in the world, despite our 3rd place ranking... confused:

Irish Wolf

nacho libre wrote:

They'll have to create a bit of history in that case-
No side since the tournament's inception in 1987 has lost a game in the pool stages and still gone on to win the World Cup.

History schmistory..

They pooped their pants on the opening night.. can't see it happening again..

What does history say about the previous winners of the cup? I'm guessing it's something along the lines of - they got out of their group, won each knockout stage, to eventually end up in the final.. which they won?

nacho libre

Irish Wolf wrote:

History schmistory..

They pooped their pants on the opening night.. can't see it happening again..

What does history say about the previous winners of the cup? I'm guessing it's something along the lines of - they got out of their group, won each knockout stage, to eventually end up in the final.. which they won?

I bet you you didn't seem them losing their first game either. Going by your logic France will not win this competition. Simply because if they can't handle the pressure on the opening night, how are they going to cope with it during the latter stages?

killbillvol2

I think Australia might sneak it. They always perform above themselves in the WC and have absolutely no fear of NZ.

I reckon we'll struggle to get out of the group because our pack just isn't good enough. Argentina with their tails up and France with their pride hurt will fancy taking us.

aidan24326

Has to be New Zealand. I'm surprised they've only got 26% of the vote so far. People may be reading too much into the fact they've flopped as favs in the past. They're overdue a WC win and this is the best squad they've had in a long time. NZ as a cert for me!

Supercell

I'm going for South Africa, the All Blacks haven't had serious opposition yet so not reading much into the italian game.
This is likely to be the last great SA team for quite some time due to government meddling with the selection process. The current team know this and will be giving it their all.

moe_sizlak

on paper only one team ( newzealand) would not only win this world cup but would have won every previous one aswell
the country that have won the most world cups ( australia) are also the country who i believe will win it, you see the thing about australia is thier awesome self belief and will to win , australia are the most successfull nation in the world when it comes to sport , confidence in sport is invaluable , ireland is a country who have always lacked confidence in sport and while that has changed i dont think we have the same kind of winning mentality that the aussies do , take one example , was watching either tv 3 or setanta the other night , this was the preview of the world cup on thursday night , all the panelists were asked who would win , only the aussie on the panel said ireland would win , he said we can win, its that aussie mentality
australia are also an incredibly clever rugby team , they make great use of what they have , in 2003 they had a very average team yet came within a score of beating england who were by far the best team in 2003 #
most importantly they have the measure of the all blacks and are not in the least bit afraid of them , in fact having been to new zealand i would say that kiwis have an inferiority complex towards thier huge neighbour and not just in rugby , in life in general

so i am tipping the aussies to do like there cricketing counterparts and become world champions for the 3rd time
but perhaps someone could put something funny in there porrige the night before so ireland can bring home the william webb ellis , ha ha
crap joke i know

spanner

that 66/1 for the argies a while back looks good now, I think the argies played very mature and gave away little, a quality every WC winner needs....

Whos to know a Upset is due to the Rugby WC

mikeruurds

SA for me. It's not the first time that the All Blacks have come into a tournament as favourites and have choked.

I'd like to see an All Black and SA final.

pretty-in-pink

It'll be NZ, Ireland (if we play well for the rest of the WC), SA or France

davyjose

mikeruurds wrote:

SA for me. It's not the first time that the All Blacks have come into a tournament as favourites and have choked.

I'd like to see an All Black and SA final.

Well yesterday was quite possibly their toughest pool game and they didnt look too shaky to me. SA ARE the only team capable of doing them, I think. But probably won't.

Endurance Man

I really wish France and Ireland had performed well, they're the only two teams from the north that have a chance of upsetting the south. Ireland have been poor building up to this competition and even poorer in the competition, they would do well to get into the semi's.

Rum&Coke

haha! Ireland to win the world cup!

South Africa look tough. Australia look solid. New Zealand look sculptured. Ireland look hopeless...

Jackz

pretty-in-pink wrote:

It'll be NZ, Ireland (if we play well for the rest of the WC), SA or France

Covering all the bases there.

Jackz

Rum&Coke wrote:

haha! Ireland to win the world cup!

South Africa look tough. Australia look solid. New Zealand look sculptured. Ireland look hopeless...

Ireland are minding themselves and pretending not to by saying things like were going to go out to put up a score against Namibia (Why bother saying that). In the post match interviews the players didnt seem genuinly dissapointed. They don't want to play All blacks so only option is to top the group by wining all games. Wait until we are beaten and on our way home before coming to conclusions.