Rugby World Cup groups

Podge_irl

Those who pay any attention to my ramblings wills know that I despise the focus on the RWC above other competitions for what seems like longer and longer periods each time. However, I was browsing through the RWC site* and noticed that our group is finalised now. I must say, it certainly seems like the most interesting group by far.

Group A: New Zealand, France, Tonga, Canada, Asia 1 (Japan)
Group B: Argentina, England, Scotland, Georgia, Play-off (Romania)
Group C: Australia, Ireland, Italy, Russia, USA
Group South Africa, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Namibia

There are a number of interesting match ups in our group. Ireland really should have won against Aus in the 03 group stages, and then there was that minor mishap at the end of the game in 91. Then we have Ireland vs. USA - a game that Ireland will undoubtedly win, but you have the interesting element of Kidney vs. EOS. I'm of the seemingly minority opinion that EOS is still an excellent coach and manager, and with the extra time and funding he'll get with his players in the run up to the RWC I think he'll have them playing nicely.

Italy are a strong third team, unlikely to qualify, but in a years time with a season of Magners league rugby behind them they will be no slouches. And finally, one of the biggest games for the sport imo - Russia vs USA. It's an old rivalry and hopefully one that non-rugby enthusiasts will latch onto. It could be a fantastic advertisement for the sport in both countries. Russia vs. Georgia matches have attracted 40,000+ crowds in the past, a proper rivalry is an absolute necessity for a sport to take hold. A game that the US can really sink it's teeth into could be fantastic for the sport - it obviously won't be as big a deal as it would have been 20 years ago, but one feels that the average US sports fan will care more about the US beating the Ruskies than about games against Ireland A or England Saxons. Russia already have a fully professional league and it would be great to see them make strides in this RWC.

It's also nice to see that group B, and to a lesser extent group C, are by no means foregone conclusions with regards to who will qualify. I've been a little disappointed with rugby's expansion since professionalism - I don't think we'll be seeing the likes of Canada qualify for QFs again anytime soon, but I do think that things are slowly moving in the right direction. It's a shame that Portugal and Romania aren't involved this time round though, they're both better teams than whoever wins the play-off spot.

*This is obviously wildly unrelated to anything going on at the moment, but I'm a little bored of the Leinster/Munster talk

bleg

USA are absolutely crap. Ireland will hammer them.

Podge_irl

bleg wrote: »

USA are absolutely crap. Ireland will hammer them.

They'll beat them, I have little doubt about that. However, comparing amateur teams with fully professional ones is a bit unfair. Things are slightly more even (though only slightly) coming into a RWC, as the IRB pays for lower tier teams to have their players available for training camps and the like. Not to mention that the US have some excellent players in Cleaver and Ngwenya. I'm curious as to how effectively EOS will get them playing with some time on his hands. I always thought that a strength of his was getting slightly substandard teams to play to a game plan that benefits them and gives them a better chance of performing well. As I mentioned though, I'm more interested in the Russia-USA game.

Besides, after Ireland relied on holding the ball up over the line to beat Georgia 14-10 I dislike making predictions on Ireland's success in the RWC.

CatFromHue

if the world cup were to be played now i think group b with argentina (when ar ethey starting in the tri nations or 4 nations again?) england and scotland would be very interesting. England not making it out of the group would be a possibility.

also group d would be good too. samoa and definitely fiji would like a crack at wales.

i hope france and new zealand is the first game in group A

Podge_irl

CatFromHue wrote: »

i hope france and new zealand is the first game in group A

It is not unfortunately, it's NZ vs. Tonga. It's a rather poor affair to start the whole thing with imo, though at least the pre match dancing should be entertaining. I imagine NZ didn't want a start to their world cup to match France's!

2040

How are Argentina in a group without a top 3 team while we are in with Australia. I thought we were ranked ahead of Argentina at the time?

Kev37

Ireland v USA is being played on the decade anniversary of September 11th, I have no doubt the Americans are going to put in the performance of their lives.

Podge_irl

2040 wrote: »

How are Argentina in a group without a top 3 team while we are in with Australia. I thought we were ranked ahead of Argentina at the time?

When the seedings were done we were ranked 8th whereas Argentina were ranked 4th. We were lucky, under the rules in effect before the draw for this RWC we would have had to go through a qualifying process.

mr.mayo

This is an old Irish team and it's not getting any younger - Here's a rough guess at what the team will look like and the age of each player:
Healy 24, Flannery 32, Hayes 37, O'Connell 32, O'Callaghan 32, Ferris 26, Wallace 34, Heaslip 27; O'Leary 27, ROG 34, D'arcy 31, BOD 31, Fitzgerald 24, Kearney 25, Bowe 27. The average age of that team is 29.5, most of the older guys are still doing okay and aren't showing any sign of decline but at the same time, you still have to worry about the future of Irish rugby. A whole generation of players will be gone after the World Cup and we'll basically have to build a new team, it's going to be tough
Australia on the other hand have a much younger team and are improving all the time. Guys like Pocock and Genia might be young but they are already among the worlds elite, obviously we don't have a fraction of the resources they have but at the same time it's worrying to think what will happen to us when the old reliables are gone

Anyway, that's for another day, back to the World Cup - It's not a bad draw but it's certainly not easy, we should beat Russia & USA without too much hassle. Italy provided stern competition this year and they are really improving under Mallet, we should beat them but I'd still worry about scrum time. The Australia match could go either way but they are definitely favourites

Macsimus

CatFromHue wrote: »

if the world cup were to be played now i think group b with argentina (when ar ethey starting in the tri nations or 4 nations again?) england and scotland would be very interesting. England not making it out of the group would be a possibility.

its definitely the hardest one to predict, 3 very evenly matched teams thrown in with Georgia, who on their day could potentially pull off an upset against any of the other 3

corny

Even at this early stage our WC depends on us beating the Aussies and topping the group. If we don't we'll likely face SA in the quarters then NZ in the semis. Up **** creek is the expression i think. If we beat the Aussies it'll be Wales/Fiji in quarters and France in semi. Still not straightforward but at least we'll have a chance at making the final.

I'm with the OP and don't really like the total emphasis on the WC but we should definitely be looking to lay down a marker in Brisbane this summer.

sock puppet

mr.mayo wrote: »

Anyway, that's for another day, back to the World Cup - It's not a bad draw but it's certainly not easy, we should beat Russia & USA without too much hassle. Italy provided stern competition this year and they are really improving under Mallet, we should beat them but I'd still worry about scrum time. The Australia match could go either way but they are definitely favourites

It's amazing how many great young players there are in Australia. They're a lot like us though in terms of resources and depth. A couple of injuries in the front five and they'd be in big trouble.

Macsimus wrote: »

its definitely the hardest one to predict, 3 very evenly matched teams thrown in with Georgia, who on their day could potentially pull off an upset against any of the other 3

Ah here. Georgia were hammered by France and Argentina last time round. Scotland, Argentina and England would have to play terribly to lose to them. There's a good chance of them preventing a bonus point win though, which may decide who gets out of the group.

Podge_irl

sock puppet wrote: »

Ah here. Georgia were hammered by France and Argentina last time round. Scotland, Argentina and England would have to play terribly to lose to them. There's a good chance of them preventing a bonus point win though, which may decide who gets out of the group.

Indeed, I don't see Georgia pulling off any upsets, but the games will hopefully be close-ish affairs. Looks like the group will be chock a block full of God awful games though.

toomevara

Kev37 wrote: »

Ireland v USA is being played on the decade anniversary of September 11th, I have no doubt the Americans are going to put in the performance of their lives.

No doubt EOS would fancy making a point or two against Ireland, and lets just say that Ireland and the world cup aren't exactly synonymous with glory and success....USA will be physical, committed and when we're done we'll know we've been in a game. In fact factor Italy in and we'll have two hugely physical tests which could exact a hefty butchers bill.

thomond2006

No Georgia or Namibia.

Pool B looks like the Pool of Death, one big name will lose out.

I bet Wales are delighted to get Fiji again.

YoureATowel

Podge_irl wrote: »

It's a shame that Portugal and Romania aren't involved this time round though, they're both better teams than whoever wins the play-off spot.

Romania can still qualify. They're in the playoffs with Uruguay, Tunisia and an Asian team (probably Korea).

Podge_irl

YoureATowel wrote: »

Romania can still qualify. They're in the playoffs with Uruguay, Tunisia and an Asian team (probably Korea).

So they can. I misread the article on the IRB website. You would have to except Romania to come through amongst the teams in contention. I would have thought Kazakhstan were more likely to go through than Korea, though I admit that my knowledge of Asian rugby is piss poor.

jasonmc_4

bleg wrote: »

USA are absolutely crap. Ireland will hammer them.

ireland to win the world cup

Zzippy

Zombie thread alert. Zombie thread closed.