rugby world cup

it starts this weekend and for those that didnt know ITV will be showing all the games, BBC has diddily squat. just thought id say

any predictions and what not

i predict lots of grumpy people cos of having to wake up to watch games at 7am.

england ftw obviously

what an autumn it would be if England got to win the world cup,and we get big Terry or Loz bringing home the WSM trophy! come on boys!!

England aren't going to win. Suspect we'll lose a group game to either Argentina or Scotland. Semi-final at best, and that'll be some achievement.

Team for Argentina:

1. Sheridan - hardly played any rugby this year. Doesn't get off to flying starts.
2. Thompson - old but there on merit over Hartley at the moment
3. Cole - promising player
4. Deacon - "unseen work" gets him in ahead of the excellent Tom Palmer who is actually a lineout option
5. Lawes - not played a huge amount of rugby recently either. Promising, and destructive tackler. Carries too upright.
6. Croft - love him, but he's not on his best form right now
7. Haskell - most improved England player of the last year. Starting to live up to the hype. Best ball carrier we have. Not an openside.
8. Easter - rugby brain will only get you so far when you're a bit out of shape
9. Wigglesworth - not awful, but with Youngs out why was Dickson not called up?
10. Wilkinson - there on merit, but Flood has been utterly hamstrung by the awful Hape/Tindall centre partnership
11. Armitage - not a winger but is the closest Cueto replacement we have. Not taking Sharples looks to be a mistake. Still, got more pace than Cueto and scores tries.
12. Tindall - hopefully Ireland wasn't his one good game of the year. Not a 12, but better than Hape who isn't a 12 either.
13. Tuilagi - will have to defend at 12, but destructive tackler and runner. Want to see him at 12 next year.
14. Ashton - quality. Can't tackle properly, but don't give a s**t
15. Foden - quality. Not a classic fullback, but is the best broken field runner we have and possibly the best in the Northern hemisphere

16. Hartley - future captain, but work to do
17. Stevens - useful, but despite two years out of the game doing MMA, he' out of shape
18. Palmer - best lock we have
19. Wood - full of potential
20. Youngs - hardly any rugby lately, better than Wigglesworth
21. Flood - possibly out of form, possibly paying a price for the awful Hape
22. Banahan - too soft for lock but just about quick enough to play in the backs as long as the opposition are intimidated by big wingers, which almost no international opposition is. Apparently covers 11, 12, 13, 14 - do not believe

Just found a New Zealand guy in my office that I can abuse.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y4ve4OSrPZM/TbBspPLKd2I/AAAAAAAAAJI/...

South Africa for the win of course.

That's a bummer. ITV suck!

Lol! More of these please!

I think it'll be a great world cup and could potentially be the most open for a long time. I'd be surprised if we got past the semis but England are so enigmatic that it could happen. No one gave us a hope of getting past the 1/4s last time round.

ITv coverage isnt the best, but they have a large portion of the world cup for as long as I can remember, maybe even every world cup.

I think it will be an England New Zealand final.....New Zealand finally getting a 2nd RWC win imo

England will ease past the Argies by a 15 point margin...they arent the team of 4 years ago....the Scots have a great chance of beating them to 2nd place!

As Olly said, I think this year will produce a lot of close games. I fancy Wales to do the Safies on Sunday...I have a feeling Wales my just get it right this year

Lets hope France dont shock New Zealand (as has happened in the past!) in the grou, as our WC would come to an abrupt end in the quarters in that scenario

great first match by all accounts, had talksport on, and i have it recorded to watch later, i love watching the pacific islanders play, they are all a little bit untapped

NZ were poor in the 2nd half apparently

Got to wonder why the organizers didnt schedule NZ v France as the opening game...would have been a great way to start the tournament

with NZ loosing to their bogey team? lol

lol, well maybe not for the New Zealanders....

Obviously cant wait for tomorrows game, but the huge game of the weekend for me is Wales v SA.....think we might see Wales shock the World Champs*

*although why Gatland hasn't picked Hook at fly-half/Lee Byren at full back, I'm not sure

i agree, wales have a tough group, sa are beatable, but samoa are looking sharp, could see any 2 of those 3 qualifying

Pool A
NZ
France
Tonga
Japan
Canada

Pool B
England
Scotland
Argentina
Georgia
Romania


Pool C
Ireland
Australia
Italy
USA
Russia

Pool D
South Africa
Samoa
Wales
Fiji
Namibia


who do you think will make the quarters?