Who's gonna win the World Cup??

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.