RWC Quarter finals

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Forthe sake of rugby, you really hope that either Ireland or Wales make it through in the top half. England have been far from convincing in their games, and the French have done little since arriving. I'll tip Wales and England to get to the semi, with the Welsh pipping england for the spot in the final.

Bottom half is trickier...the ABs should handle Argentina pretty easily, even without Carter at #10. The Boks look like they could be beaten, but the Wallabies will have to be on their game to do so. I'll take NZ and SA to come through (the old guard's last hurrah, as it were, for south Africa)- with the ABs running the Boks into the ground in the semi to set up the final between New Zealand and Wales.
 
I hope Wales beats Ireland (mostly out of spite) but I don't think either side has a real shot at the title. Wales should have beaten the Boks but should have been beaten by Samoa and were made to look like world beaters by a horrible Fijian side. I think Ireland will get up by 3-7.

France are pathetic. Usually they are a team who can turn it on any time they want, but this team is just woeful. England are the better team and should thump them. England by 12-20.

Heart and head both say Australia will beat the Boks. Hopefully it isn't too wet and heavy at the ground as that will certainly play into the Boks' hands but the Wallabies are the better side (given we can get as good a team as we can out there) and have beaten the Boks twice this year. Wallabies by 5-10.

Even without Carter, NZ will be too good for Argentina and should win this game. I expect the Argentinians to put up a good fight but not have enough class out wide to topple what is still an outstanding side. NZ by 15-20.

That means it would be Ireland vs England and NZ vs Australia. Mouth-watering. Can't wait for this weekend.
 

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I hope France turn up against England. They're usually good for at least one decent performance. If not it'll be a dull game with one team, most likely England scraping through unconvincingly. Like you I think Wales are a massive chance...I think they're a better chance of winning the tournament than Ireland, but I think it's almost 50/50 in their quarter final. Both teams have the ability to beat France or England in the semi final, but whether they have the belief I'm not sure. Same story if they make the final against NZ.

I think Australia will beat South Africa if it's dry. If it's wet I would tip South Africa. The only certainty looks to be NZ/Argentina, but hopefully the Argies put in a good performance and keep it relatively close. They've had some close games with the All Blacks before...but in NZ is another story.
 
Agreed with most, the only certainty is New Zealand over Argentina. The other three are complete toss-ups. In the Northern Hemisphere bracket, I can see any of them advancing to the final. Wales and Ireland are in much better form ATM than England or France. I really hope the Wales-Ireland winner gets to the final.

As for the Boks-Wallabies match, all bets are off. All I can say is that will be the match of the tournament.
 
by only 8!? I think your confidence has been shattered after the weekend AuckMel.

It will be a moral victory for Argentina if they can get within 20.
 
Bryce Lawrence refereeing the Australian game. We've already lost. It's a farce that a referee with such a vendetta against us is allowed to referee such a high profile game.
 
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Mint Condition said:
by only 8!? I think your confidence has been shattered after the weekend AuckMel.

It will be a moral victory for Argentina if they can get within 20.
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I'm allowing for it being a 1/4er final against a side who'll scrum well against us. They can have a moral win, in fact any side can from here on in. :)
 
Lions1024 said:
Bryce Lawrence refereeing the Australian game. We've already lost. It's a farce that a referee with such a vendetta against us is allowed to referee such a high profile game.
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So we can expect at least 5 scrum penalties against us. :thumbsdown:
 
AuckMel, I don't think you'll have too many problems with Argentina. They have a good scrum and defence but I don't think they can hurt you anywhere...especially without a good goal kicker. They'd have to play the game of their lives AND have some luck (an opportunistic try or two from AB mistakes) to have any chance.

I agree that the appointment of Lawrence to the Wallabies game is pretty odd. Paddy O'Brien has obviously taken note he refereed us to a loss to Ireland and a near 2nd half loss to Russia. On the other hand the All Blacks get the underdog hating Nigel Owens for their match!
 

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Mint Condition said:
AuckMel, I don't think you'll have too many problems with Argentina. They have a good scrum and defence but I don't think they can hurt you anywhere...especially without a good goal kicker. They'd have to play the game of their lives AND have some luck (an opportunistic try or two from AB mistakes) to have any chance.
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Yea, they said that about France 4 years ago. LoL

Mint Condition said:
I agree that the appointment of Lawrence to the Wallabies game is pretty odd. Paddy O'Brien has obviously taken note he refereed us to a loss to Ireland and a near 2nd half loss to Russia. On the other hand the All Blacks get the underdog hating Nigel Owens for their match!
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He reffed QLD to a S15 title. Play well and you'll win, play like you did against Ireland and you'll be spanked.
 
Love to see Wales beat Ireland, but I can see a narrow win for the Irish. England/France; depends if the French turn up. If they do, they should have too much class for England. ABs through is a gimme, don't know about the Wallabies/Saffies; I haven't seen much of Australia.
 
Lieveremont is just begging to get beaten and then sacked. Parra is an outstanding player...when played where he should be (halfback). Trinh-Duc is more than capable at 10 and certainly the best the French have. I just don't get what he's doing with the backline.

Their pack is outstanding and if they play well they could trouble England mightily but they need a backline capable of taking advantage. And Parra playing at 10 is not gonna be the most condusive positional option to do that.
 
Agreed this is the french teams worst backline.

Trinh-Duc is a very good 10 but again lacks a bit of flair which Parra has. If this was Lieveremonts plan he should have been playing Parra at 10 during the six nations or even the warm up matches getting ready for the rwc.

Hopefully the next coach takes french rugby national team through a re-building phase which is needed imo to many older players holding the team together.
 
groga said:
Agreed this is the french teams worst backline.

Trinh-Duc is a very good 10 but again lacks a bit of flair which Parra has. If this was Lieveremonts plan he should have been playing Parra at 10 during the six nations or even the warm up matches getting ready for the rwc.

Hopefully the next coach takes french rugby national team through a re-building phase which is needed imo to many older players holding the team together.
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Agreed with all that.

If Lievremont had wanted to make Parra their 10 surely he should have done it during the 6 Nations. Therefore, it looks like this decision has been a pretty late one that has been made rather haphazardly.
 
Who knows, maybe it'll click on the 3rd try and France will carve England up.

Doubt it though. I'm expecting a very dour arm wrestle. I hope I'm wrong.
 
France won't beat England. They've been playing horrible rugby. The worst thing is that it's solely Lievremonts fault. His selection policy is bizarre, I would love to see some statistics, but he's used nearly every French player in the Top 14. It's a never ending door way. I would go as far as to say that he's cheapened test rugby.

Ireland have some serious depth problems. One injury to a prop/hooker/lock/scrumhalf could derail their whole campaign. Tom Court making the 22 for a WC quarter final is embarrassing.
 
God, we're lucky we didn't have to face Wales. They were immense. Warburton is clearly the player of the tournament so far and imo he's the best openside in the world. Absolutely brilliant, a few times Wales looked isolated and gone, yet Warburton was able to keep the ball against 4 or 5 Irish players.
 
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