Who does everyone fancy? I can’t help but think it’s going to be SA’s year again. They were mightly impressive against the ABs in their final warm up and their style of rugby is so well suited to tournament play. I think Ireland to come up short again and exit in the semis. Clearly France are fancied given their squad, the best player in the world (Dupont) and the 16th man home crowd. Anyone else got a view?
Hard to see any of the home nations going beyond the Semis / Quarters.
I’ve got the 2nd half of this bottle and a Guinness or two in the fridge ready for the curtain raiser tonight, which should be EPIC!
Strange game, as both sides know they can afford to lose and will sail through to the knockouts.
I understand France were offered to open the tournament with an easy pass from their group but they opted for NZ. So presumably they want to make a statement of intent?
From what I hear from my kiwi friends, the All Blacks have been quietly preparing for this with a sense of satisfaction that everyone has already decided the French are going to win it. Everyone saying Beauden Barrett is past it seems laughable.
Great game and France looked very strong (but I am not willing to write off the All Blacks).
The Pumas are a cracking side at the moment (with plenty of players in the English Premiership right now), so it won’t be a walk in the park for England.
Ireland against Romania should be a romp.
I might watch Australia Georgia if I have time, as while they are clearly different class, Georgia do get better with every world cup. (And based on my knowledge of their weightlifting squat, they know how to build BIG people - although sometimes with a little help allegedly)
Good luck to Scotland and Wales for their matches today. Well done to Ireland and, er, England for their wins yesterday. I hear on the grapevine that England will start as a 14 for their next game and work down from there Seriously a mighty effort from England given the circumstances, though the Argentines must be kicking themselves.
The “Tier 2” teams are generally playing great rugby and are a joy to watch. Sure they lost to Wales, but I loved the way Portugal played. Uruguay were fantastic to watch too, and I’ve always had a soft spot for Japan.
Fiji beat Australia (and mumble mumble deserved to beat Wales mumble mumble) was just the icing on a cake built of a lot of enjoyable to watch rugby.
I really wish Portugal had managed a win against Georgia. That was a really fun match to watch too. I genuinely can’t call Wales/Australia, Everything I ever thought about Eddie Jones remains as true as it has done (I’d always wondered how much it was because he was England manager, but I have no problems with Steve Bothwick).
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Seriously a mighty effort from England given the circumstances, though the Argentines must be kicking themselves.
