Recent content by Omar Comin'

I think it's worth it for the extra knockout round instead of another round of pool games, and to remove the scheduling problem of having an odd number of teams in each group (so no more games between a team on a 4-5 day turnaround and another who's had 7+) That said in Pools B, C, E and F...

They could play in Sapporo where it's cooler. Some 2019 world cup games were played there.

If R360 does fall over I wonder if there is something in the concept that can be used by Super Rugby going forward. We're going to have the Super Round in Christchurch - could it be worth having 1 or 2 more of these in a season? Or even using this model as a way to connect a bit more with the...

Yeah for sure - Spain were leading Fiji after 72 minutes this weekend without their 6 Top 14 players. Definitely a team high on the list of potential future tier 1 nations. Their under 18's also beat Georgia over the weekend for the first time in a long time.

Samoa in band 4 will be a tough draw for whoever gets them! Their world cup squad will likely be stronger than all the band 3 teams.

Expanding would be more palatable to the tier 1 unions, but with 16 the format would get a bit messier. I don't think you could do groups of 4 with semi finals because that's too similar to the world cup. If you did 2 groups of 8, you don't have enough of a window for everyone to play each...

How would it destabilise the 6N/RC? They are entirely separate to the Nations Championship. It would be a farce if Japan and Fiji both finish higher than 12th yet one of them still gets relegated. It would ruin the credibility of the tournament. If the 10 primary tier 1 unions own it equally...

It'll be interesting to see if the promotion/relegation is only for the invitational teams, or if the 6 Nations and Rugby Championship unions will accept the possibility of being relegated. I'd personally like to see 1 guaranteed promotion/relegation between the divisions and a playoff for a...

Maybe March/April would be possible (for both), but even if sticking to February I suspect we'd all get used to it. Super Rugby usually does pretty well in February because it starts a couple of weeks before the NRL (you'd see this in the ratings when rugby was still on Fox). Just avoid playing...

Samoa should be able to put together a very strong team for the world cup, and should have won this game by 20 - but a great effort by Belgium to get so close. Unlucky for them that Samoa were so much weaker in the PNC (Pacific Nations Cup) and they didn't get to play USA or Chile in the repechage instead. Or that...

How many in or close to our best 23 come off contract in 2026? Max Jorgensen is one - and he'd obviously attract a big offer, but I think most of the bigger names have been signed through to the world cup. I guess Mark Nawaqanitawase could go there for the first season too, maybe Noah Lolesio...

They'll just send a B team out for the southern leg, same as they've been doing for years now in the July window. Good chance they still win 2/3.

20 wasn't simple either due to the awkward 5 team pools with unfair schedules. With 24 the worst teams will only play 3 matches, while for everyone else what was previously a 4th pool game will now be a bigger occasion (especially in the tier 2 countries that make it there). The simple...

Luck of the draw is always a factor in world cups - 2023 was more a function with how early the draw was, but even with perfect seeding you'll have teams get tougher draws than others. You're right about that France vs Tonga match in 2011. But if that was a round of 16 game it would have had...

At the end of the day if a top 6 team (pool winner) loses a round of 16 game to a team ranked 7-12 they were never going to win the tournament. The top teams may even prefer a tougher round of 16 match if it results in an easier quarter final, than the reverse.