RWC 2015

[Mr Doug]

I'm sticking my neck out with the prediction that Australia will play Ireland in the 2015 RWC Final! (I think that's possible, given the makeup of the pools).

 

[Athilnaur]

Should be possible for any two teams to end up playing in the final, but might require one of them to lose in the pools, eg England and Australia.

I just hope we aren't the team that exits at pool stage, one of England, Wales, Australia is going to be bitterly disappointed.

 

[KevinO]

I'm sticking my neck out with the prediction that Australia will play Ireland in the 2015 RWC Final! (I think that's possible, given the makeup of the pools).

So your beating NZ in the Semi and Ireland beating England in the semi?

I am hoping for a Ireland v NZ final, our first win over NZ being in the RWC final would be writing on the wall.

 

[Mr Doug]

So your beating NZ in the Semi and Ireland beating England in the semi?

I am hoping for a Ireland v NZ final, our first win over NZ being in the RWC final would be writing on the wall.

ABs don't win RWCs "overseas"!!

 

[KevinO]

ABs don't win RWCs "overseas"!!

I know, they can choke in the final to Ireland. Will make our win all the better

Becoming World Cup winners while never having beaten that All Blacks just sounds so wrong.

 

[Mr Doug]

I know, they can choke in the final to Ireland. Will make our win all the better

Becoming World Cup winners while never having beaten that All Blacks just sounds so wrong.

Why?!

 

[Scrubber2050]

Our little cousy bros from accross the gutter will "choke" overseas as they generally do

Australia to win, Cheika surpasses Bob Dwyer as the "guru" and the Wallabies enter a new era spanning 10 years.

Fuck, that was easy to write !!!!

 

[Mr Doug]

Our little cousy bros from accross the gutter will "choke" overseas as they generally do

Australia to win, Cheika surpasses Bob Dwyer as the "guru" and the Wallabies enter a new era spanning 10 years.

Fuck, that was easy to write !!!!

Well done Scrubber2050. It is our (collective) job to keep promoting these thoughts, so that as the All blacks board their aircraft to fly out to the RWC, they also believe that they won't win the final!

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Ireland, NZ and England my top 3 in terms of sides with chances to win world cup.

Downside for Ireland if they face NZ in the final is they have never beaten NZ so NZ have psychological edge.

England have the forwards but NZ ooze in class above England in backline department.....

So NZ still raging favourites for RWC but gap has closed with NH sides...

Wales, France and SA are the next outsiders but would be surprised if any of these 3 got to the final

Don't see Australia having any chance....but will be cheering them on and supporting them and hoping I am wrong...head tells me I won't be

 

[Scrubber2050]

I suppose the one good thing that came out of the EOYT was that there were no serious injuries

 

[formerflanker]

Our lead-up games to the RWC appear to me to be Rugby Championship fixtures (Springboks in July, Argentina in July, All Blacks in August) plus one more Bledisloe match at Eden Park in August.
4 tests to bed down a RWC winning combination? It looks like the Super competition will have a very large bearing on Test selections.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Our lead-up games to the RWC appear to me to be Rugby Championship fixtures (Springboks in July, Argentina in July, All Blacks in August) plus one more Bledisloe match at Eden Park in August.
4 tests to bed down a RWC winning combination? It looks like the Super competition will have a very large bearing on Test selections.

Could easily now be going into the rwc on the back of 7 losses in a row.

Ugly

 

[vidiot]

Think of the odds we'll get from Tom Waterhouse.... Sweet!

 

[KevinO]

My Predictions after going through the whole thing:

Pool A: 1) England 2) Wales 3) Aus 4) Fiji 5) Uruguay
Pool B: 1) South Africia 2) Scotland 3) Samoa 4) Japan 5) USA
Pool C: 1) New Zealand 2) Argentina 3) Tonga 4) Georgia 5)Namibia
Pool D: 1) Ireland 2) France 3) Italy 4) Romania 5) Canada

QF1: NZ v France - NZ win
QF2: SA v Wales - SA win
QF3: Ire v Argentina - Ire
QF4: Eng v Scotland - Eng

SF1: NZ v SA
SF2: Ire v Eng

Final: NZ v Ire

It looks like a NH v SH final is a high possibility.

Predicting that Australia's run against Wales is going to come to a end at the World Cup, Wales has been so close on so many occasions and should pretty much be a home crowd for them.

Hope Italy can upset the French, would like to see them make the QF's for once.

Scotland v Samoa will be a great game, decides that second spot.

NZ to cruise through the group, could very easily get knocked out in the QF if they meet France (2007 ring a bell, it was at Cardiff that year as well)

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

On the basis of our performances this year and the upheaval in the playing list and coaching ranks, we've got a massive uphill battle to even make it out of our group at the RWC. I'm certainly not looking any further than that at the moment and nor should the coaching staff.

We've got huge problems in the pack and you can't win the RWC without at the very least solidity in the set pieces and breakdown. A few of the younger blokes will need to improve considerably if we're to be any chance. The only thing that gives me any hope whatsoever is that Cheika is a fine coach and clearly has a plan. Whether he has enough time between now and the RWC to execute that plan effectively is another thing and I'm highly doubtful at this stage.

For mine, we need the following areas to be addressed if we are to advance:

1, Front row depth. Our starting props are proven and automatic choices, but we need some blokes to be their backup. None of our reserve props at the moment are of the required standard IMHO.

2, Second row partner for Rob Simmons. It's clear that Simmons is going to run the lineout, but we're still missing a "rock shifter" style lock to really up the level of physicality in the loose. I don't see anyone at the moment who is a slam dunk for that role.

3, A dominant eight. The Big Dog has done a fine job this season, but we're either going to need him to step up to the level of a Read/Vermeulen or find someone else who can. A big ball running eight is an absolute necessity in the modern game and whilst Cliffy is a good candidate, I think he's too broken now to be consistently effective at test level.

4, Sort out who is our best 10. It comes down to QC (Quade Cooper) and Foley. I think Cheika will lean towards Foley to be our five-eighth but I still think Cooper has much to offer in the Wallaby jumper. Hopefully both of them have excellent and injury free seasons in Super Rugby next year and give the selectors a real headache.

5, Pace at the back. Speight I think will develop into an excellent test level player, but that still leaves the other wing to sort out. As much as I dislike the way that JOC (James O'Connor) has carried on in the past, hopefully he can play the house down and command a position in the squad.

6, Depth on the bench. This is a general issue and one that has cost us games this year. The starters have done the job for many of the games (e.g. Cape Town) but the guys who have come on and replaced them haven't played up to the same standard. To a large degree injuries have influenced this, but the bench players will need to step up over the next year, given that it's really a 23 man game now.

7, Fitness to play the full 80 of Cheika's game plan. Cheika clearly wants to play a style that has bodies hitting the gain line at pace and quick recycling of the ball. I think it's a good strategy and one that can be successful at all levels of the game if executed well and the playing group understand how much more fit they'll have to be to do it. We see it in bursts currently, but to close out the tight ones the forwards in particular are going to have to be more aerobically fit than they currently are.

What I think is really going to be required, given the time available, is for Cheika and the other Super rugby coaches around Australia, to have a summit and the Wallaby coach outlining the preferred style of play and the requirements for individuals positions in that style. Ideally, you'd want each of the Aussie franchises playing something resembling those patterns in each case and training accordingly. Ordinarily I don't think this would be necessary (nor would I advocate it), but with the clusterfuck that 2014 has been with the squad, coaches and selections, it may be needed. I fully expect that others will vehemently disagree with this and accordingly I'd be interested in other viewpoints.

 

[formerflanker]

1, Front row depth. Our starting props are proven and automatic choices, but we need some blokes to be their backup. None of our reserve props at the moment are of the required standard IMHO.

Thinking a bit laterally - could we convert TPN from hooker to prop? If he is (presumably) going to be on the bench behind Moore, he could give us some of the depth you are looking for. I know there isn't much time and it's huge ask, but if it could work it would add to our front row depth.

 

[KevinO]

Thinking a bit laterally - could we convert TPN from hooker to prop? If he is (presumably) going to be on the bench behind Moore, he could give us some of the depth you are looking for. I know there isn't much time and it's huge ask, but if it could work it would add to our front row depth.

Toby Smith has to be given a shot off the bench first game of the RC next year, thrown in the deep end to see if he can swim.

 

[Pfitzy]

Predicting that Australia's run against Wales is going to come to a end at the World Cup, Wales has been so close on so many occasions and should pretty much be a home crowd for them.

I'm predicting that our run of close wins against them comes to an end AS WE THRASH THE EVERLOVING FUCK OUT OF THEM! Fucking pretenders.

We'll have a close game against England, but win, and throw them into the other side of the draw. Our forwards will barely gain parity and everyone will dismiss us despite the win.

We'll play our usual shit game against Scotland, but have too much class in the QFs, then pooch Argentina in the semis, who will have taken Ireland out yet again.

And finally, everyone gets what they want - well, everyone who fucking matters:

Wallabies v New Zealand final.

And we will fucking rub those ****s out big time despite not beating them for years.

Back to back? Lick my crack.

 

[KevinO]

I'm predicting that our run of close wins against them comes to an end AS WE THRASH THE EVERLOVING FUCK OUT OF THEM! Fucking pretenders.

We'll have a close game against England, but win, and throw them into the other side of the draw. Our forwards will barely gain parity and everyone will dismiss us despite the win.

We'll play our usual shit game against Scotland, but have too much class in the QFs, then pooch Argentina in the semis, who will have taken Ireland out yet again.

And finally, everyone gets what they want - well, everyone who fucking matters:

Wallabies v New Zealand final.

And we will fucking rub those ****s out big time despite not beating them for years.

Back to back? Lick my crack.

Have you been in a coma for the last 5 weeks? If not very optimistic indeed.

 

[vidiot]

Wallabies v New Zealand final.

And we will fucking rub those ****s out big time despite not beating them for years.

Have you been in a coma for the last 5 weeks? If not very optimistic indeed.

Yeah I agree, its not optimistic enough.

Typically in a world cup year I expect us to take The Rugby Championship or equivalent as Steve Hansen bathes Richie and Carter in that pool from Coccoon.