If any of this has already happened please excuse me as I haven’t had much time to watch.
Samoa on a good day could take any of the other teams, except NZ and Aus, but should the other team get the first points on the board it’s all over, they loose heart.
Fiji should cream the US.
Tonga will have a good run against anyway but don’t have the game in their heads. A few points down and it’s all over.
New Zealand looks strong and what’s more look mentally ready for the games. SA looks a little worried, it’s all over their faces when they take the field.
Australia will probably get a little too cocky especially after such an easy stroll to the semi finals.
The other semi finalists will have had a hard road and probably deserve the cup more after having to have worked so hard to get there.
Personally, I feel that the teams with the most guts on the field won’t even get to see the finals. Ah, but such is the nature of the beast.
I have to admit, after over 4 years in Taiwan, I no longer recognise the NZ team.
What’s up with the Japanese team this year, they are playing less famous westerners on their team. What, they don’t like winning or something? The same goes for the Welsh too.
Canada looks like something from the Rugby of the past. Old style Rugby bodies. Some short looking players. Some big boys, but not in top shape. Lack of real professional play is really showing.
I’d like to respectfully correct a couple of misconceptions above.
The pool winners do not go directly into the semi-finals. There are quarter-finals first. NZ, assuming they win the pool, will be playing the second placed team in the England-South Africa pool. If Australia win their group, they will be losing to either France or Scotland in the semis.
In any case, if Australia and New Zealand both win their pools, it will be impossible for them to meet in the final.
the Brass Monkey will have the environment - loads of South Africans I imagine. However, I suspect Carnegies will have the NT$80 Boddingtons (the other stuff that doesn’t matter to me is also). as they apparently did last week. That might actually lure an English crowd. Actually I’m keen to catch the Muddy Water basin Boys and others down at the free gig in Da An park (6:30 ~ 7:30), so I guess its a hasty retreat to Carnegies
Just occurred to me, Rugby beer pricing wars.
Max or Bob, like to make any counter offers? But, umm, Tavern person, don’t bother .
howzit,
sorry Toe save, while i really hope SA do well, they are’nt even close to being invincible (take the tri nations ) buit i support them and hope they’re playing like they did against oz in the first game of the tri nations.
oz is always a threat and everyone’s weary of the frogs pulling out a blinder and knocking someone out.
i reckon NZ have the better team. England play like the ABs did in 87 (thanks to Buck, Zinzan Mithch and others over their for the last few years) but i think NZ has the talent.
it’s going to come down who plays to the top of their game on the day. that’s where the big game heads on the poms could come through but i’m still picking the ABs coz like the baby blacks of 86 they’ve got stacks of talent and a lot of them have proven they’ve got big game heads too.
Awesome performance by England last night. I can almost hear my old rugby coach screaming at the Samoan team, “Right lads, listen up. That twinkle toed bastard’s (Jonny Wilkinson) going down in the first 5 minutes. Smash his feet then demolish that bloody big captain.”
England are indeed playing like the all blacks of old. Just doesn’t seem right.
The beer pricing war failed miserably, drinks were the usual price at Carnage last night. Bob, where were you?
The beers were cheap at the ‘7-11 bar’ outside of Brass Monkey last night. I was doing it ont he cheap, but luckily the Brass Monkey has big windows so I got a prtetty good view of the big screen, they have speakers relayiong the commentary out onto the street and there’s a 7-11 providing 35NT beers next ddor. There were about 20-30 people watching from outside.
So NZ is to meet SA in the quarter finals. Shouldn’t be too hard, but SA played alright in the first half they can keep it up and not crumple under the pressure like they did last night, it’ll still be a tough match for the All Blacks.
I’m thinking I may have been right. Oz are set to explode.
[quote]An Australian second-string XV brushed aside African minnows Namibia 142-0 in Adelaide today with a 22-try display which would have been stopped at half-time had it been a boxing match.
In the latest and worst in a succession of blowouts that have scarred the group stages of the competition, Australia scored the biggest ever winning margin in World Cup history and rewrote most of their own national records.
“We just got a thorough rugby lesson today,” said Namibia coach Dave Waterston.
"It was men against boys. I thought the All Blacks were the most ruthless in world rugby. But they (Australia) were ruthless.[/quote]
Have to agree. There is something distasteful in thrashing a team like Namibia without letting them score one try. Smells like that milttary tactic, the “shocking whore”, we learnt from our politcal overlords.
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