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RWC 2027 Australia

Strewthcobber

Phil Kearns (64)
You're approaching this from a persective that the Paraguayan Union is run by a group of professionals. It's not. So these kind of things slip through. They caught it and have taken the step to withdraw. Not a great look but good for them to be forthright when they realised.
Think you are giving them way too much latitude there. You don't need to be professional to make sure your players are eligible. Any National Union representative should be aware of this. Paid or not, it's basic stuff.

Spain was different, as the player was basically fraudulent
 
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dru

Jason Little (69)
Think you are giving them way too much latitude there. You don't need to be professional to make sure your players are eligible. Any National Union representative should be aware of this. Paid or not, it's basic stuff.

Spain was different, as the player was basically fraudulent

This +1.
 

Omar Comin'

Peter Fenwicke (45)
I read that Brazil were missing a few key players against Paraguay as those games fell outside of the official release window, so they may well be stronger in the final qualifier than Paraguay would have been. It will be interesting to see how their level compares with Namibia and Belgium, I think it's fairly hard to predict which team will be the toughest opponent for Samoa.
 

liquor box

John Hipwell (52)
You're approaching this from a persective that the Paraguayan Union is run by a group of professionals. It's not. So these kind of things slip through. They caught it and have taken the step to withdraw. Not a great look but good for them to be forthright when they realised.
Maybe the first thing that tier 1 countries could do to help the game is provide administration for other countries?
 

liquor box

John Hipwell (52)
FQT Round 1:

Belgium 22-15 Namibia !

Samoa 48-10 Brazil



A little condescending don't you think?
No, I don't think!

Assisting countries move from a fairly amateur administration of the game to being professional will bring benefits in the long term. Many countries around the world would have athletes who would be better than tier one players if they had the same professional set ups. They will never see this possibility if the people running the game are doing it as a hobby or purely because they love the game.

I guess we will have differing opinions on what will benefit other nations but that is good, it is what forums should be about.
 

Red Runner

Charlie Fox (21)
Ok so this was mentioned on one of those Stan shows but I couldn't quite understand it. Us finishing under 6th placed in the rankings for the draw is no major drama, as far as I can see.

We will be in Pool A, that's a given. As Host that is guaranteed regardless of our rankings.

If we finish 2nd in the pool (Big if) then in the new Round of 16 we actually play another "Runner Up" team (Runner up of Pool E).

Then if we win that we play the winner of the match between the Winner of Pool F and the Runner Up of Pool B. Of course or will become more relevant after the draw in the next few weeks.
 

KOB1987

Tim Horan (67)
Ok so this was mentioned on one of those Stan shows but I couldn't quite understand it. Us finishing under 6th placed in the rankings for the draw is no major drama, as far as I can see.

We will be in Pool A, that's a given. As Host that is guaranteed regardless of our rankings.

If we finish 2nd in the pool (Big if) then in the new Round of 16 we actually play another "Runner Up" team (Runner up of Pool E).

Then if we win that we play the winner of the match between the Winner of Pool F and the Runner Up of Pool B. Of course or will become more relevant after the draw in the next few weeks.
Out of curiosity, I would assume that the winner of Pool A plays one of the 4 x 3rd placed teams?
 

Wilson

Tim Horan (67)
This is the flow for the knock outs:
1762730311244.png

From World Rugby:
As you can see, the teams that finish top of Pool A, B, C and D will face a third-place team in the Round of 16, while the teams that finish top of Pool E and F will face teams that finished second in their pool. Likewise, some teams that finished second in their pool may face the winner of another pool, while some will face the runners-up.

While on the surface that may seem slightly unfair, that imbalance is addressed in the next round. Let's take Pool A and Pool E as an example. The team that wins Pool A will face a third-place team in the Round of 16, but in the quarter-finals could potentially meet the winner of Pool B if that team wins their Round of 16 match.

On the other hand, the team that wins Pool E will face a runner-up rather than a third-place team in the Round of 16, but in the quarter-finals would face the winner of a quarter-final between two other runners-up. So while the winner of Pool A would face a third-ranked team and then potentially a top-ranked team in their games, the winner of Pool E would face second-ranked teams in both games. There's therefore no advantage or disadvantage to be gained or lost regardless of your team's raking at the end of the pool stage, it will all even out in the end.
 

Tomthumb

Jim Lenehan (48)

Wilson

Tim Horan (67)
I hate the best third place thing so much.......
I kind of do as well, but I think it's worth it for the extra teams. It's definitely not as bad as in the smaller tournaments like the under 20s when a genuine contender can miss out.

As much as I'd prefer 4 pools of 6 I can understand why that is an unworkable number games/tournament length, and the top 4 from each pool progressing would present it's own issues. It's just unfortunate the 32 teams needed for a cleaner draw is so far off possible.
 

Omar Comin'

Peter Fenwicke (45)
What an utter clusterfuck

This "all evens out" nonsense is one upset result form not evening out

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.
 

Tomthumb

Jim Lenehan (48)
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.
This just isn't true though. It's one off games, anything can happen. 2011 France lost to Tonga and then should have won the final

Have we all forgotten the lunacy of the last World Cup where the 4 best teams played each other in the QF
 

Omar Comin'

Peter Fenwicke (45)
This just isn't true though. It's one off games, anything can happen. 2011 France lost to Tonga and then should have won the final

Have we all forgotten the lunacy of the last World Cup where the 4 best teams played each other in the QF

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 more jeopardy and that result would have been a much bigger story instead of a consolation prize for Tonga. More jeopardy is a good thing! If a similar result happens in 2027 the overwhelming favourite who lost in a huge upset won't be able to complain too much.
 

Tomthumb

Jim Lenehan (48)
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 more jeopardy and that result would have been a much bigger story instead of a consolation prize for Tonga. More jeopardy is a good thing! If a similar result happens in 2027 the overwhelming favourite who lost in a huge upset won't be able to complain too much.
Yeah more jeopardy is a good thing, but so is simplicity. This seems an overly convoluted draw for a tournament that I don't think needs 4 extra easy beats added in
 

Omar Comin'

Peter Fenwicke (45)
Yeah more jeopardy is a good thing, but so is simplicity. This seems an overly convoluted draw for a tournament that I don't think needs 4 extra easy beats added in

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 tournament sizes are 16 and 32, but not many sports would be able to go straight from one to the other.
 
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