2019 Rugby World Cup

faniebraai said:
hell, and here i was thinking that we might end up losing against a city :D
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Foreign legion, yup, but all locals. They have two superb top league players as well. They have also regularly made the repechages where Japan has beaten them out, but now that Japan is already in, things are looking good that they may slide in under the radar. Their new head coach, Leigh Jones, assisted Eddie Jones at the 2015 RWC. They also nearly beaten Japan last week in Japan, going down 29-17. They also have money and centralised contracting.

May be another giant killer in two years…
 
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I think we underestimate the psychological effects of a pool thumping we will get from the All Blacks. Just imagine how good their current lot will be in 2 years' time with even more international experience under their belts. Plus, while they will definitely hammer Italy by 30+ points, I doubt we'll beat them by more than 6 points, and it maybe a try-less encounter with them bossing our scrum. Prediction: Boks back home after their first knock-out game.
 
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My love for the Sringboks is still there but my faith that they will win a game in RWC died some time last year.

I'm all for them proving me wrong though.
 
Crowley said:
My love for the Sringboks is still there but my faith that they will win a game in RWC died some time last year.

I'm all for them proving me wrong though.
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Yep, if we're going to be optimistic about getting the all blacks in the final we shouldn't be worrying about Hong Kong and Japan ... and definitely not Ireland, Scotland and Wales either.

a team that struggles against any of those should rather just not be playing for the world cup, but rather in the world cup.
 
Being in the same pool as NZ shows how far we have fallen.

We are out of the top tier of nations.

I can't see us turning this ship around in 24 months.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
Huh? We are in the top 8, equal chances…
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Oh, I thought that the top 4 head each group and then the rest gets drawn.

I need to further my rugby studies. :)

Edit: I see that I am right, we are not in the top 4 and fall within the second band of nations. Ireland and Scotland is ahead of us???

WORLD CUP BANDS
BAND ONE: New Zealand (ranked 1), England (2), Australia (3), Ireland (4).
BAND TWO: Scotland (5), France (6), South Africa (7), Wales (8).
BAND THREE: Argentina (9), Japan (11), Georgia (12), Italy (15).
 
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bokka1 said:
Oh, I thought that the top 4 head each group and then the rest gets drawn.

I need to further my rugby studies. :)

Edit: I see that I am right, we are not in the top 4 and fall within the second band of nations. Ireland and Scotland is ahead of us???

WORLD CUP BANDS
BAND ONE: New Zealand (ranked 1), England (2), Australia (3), Ireland (4).
BAND TWO: Scotland (5), France (6), South Africa (7), Wales (8).
BAND THREE: Argentina (9), Japan (11), Georgia (12), Italy (15).
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You were right. Top 4 can't be in the same pool.
 
faniebraai said:
SABC Nuus: "Suid-Afrika kry 'n gunstige loot in die Wereld Beker 2019" que!?
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It is not that bad really, we don’t need to win them to progress. Winning them will be a boon though. We have two years to prepare, much may change until then. I don't really see Italy as a threat, Brendan Venter dropped them cold. It depends which island team(s) we may go up against. Samoa is never strong, but they seem to hit the bigger teams harder than the teams in their own league, and then there is the Tongans which should be minor, but damaging to our health... Fiji, well, they pull giants down on a good day.

The repechage place is between South Korea, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands where Hong Kong is likely to go through, and they have NEVER played 1st tier countries other than the XV selections, but note that they are growing since recently and have beaten the USA without any worries. Like I said, they have the coaching, they have the money and their players are well treated.

No real threat other than New Zealand, and I doubt that Hong Kong is the next Japan. Japan though, they have the ball rolling since 2013 and have some good u/20 coming through to patch their depth, not to mention that the Top League stakeholders are nowadays more than willing to part their top players into the JRFU.

Currently everyone is like, "NEW ZEALAND, NO!!!", silly really. We should play the best in the pools. Just shows that we want it easy peasy lemon squeezy. Look at pool C, those guys are scrumming up ideas today on how to progress towards the RWC. We are biting nails, due to piss poor management decisions. Two years, that is a long run in rugby terms.
 
bokka1 said:
Edit: I see that I am right, we are not in the top 4 and fall within the second band of nations. Ireland and Scotland is ahead of us???
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Yes, band one and two are tier 1 in World Rugby terms. We are still to play The Rugby Championship, Europe and Britain had The Six Nations prior to the draw. We can still end up in 3rd or 4th place this year, though it would mean nothing in relation to this draw.

Btw, the draw was postponed, the original date was set to be in December 2016.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
It is not that bad really, we don’t need to win them to progress. Winning them will be a boon though. We have two years to prepare, much may change until then. I don't really see Italy as a threat, Brendan Venter dropped them cold. It depends which island team(s) we may go up against. Samoa is never strong, but they seem to hit the bigger teams harder than the teams in their own league, and then there is the Tongans which should be minor, but damaging to our health... Fiji, well, they pull giants down on a good day.

The repechage place is between South Korea, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands where Hong Kong is likely to go through, and they have NEVER played 1st tier countries other than the XV selections, but note that they are growing since recently and have beaten the USA without any worries. Like I said, they have the coaching, they have the money and their players are well treated.

No real threat other than New Zealand, and I doubt that Hong Kong is the next Japan. Japan though, they have the ball rolling since 2013 and have some good u/20 coming through to patch their depth, not to mention that the Top League stakeholders are nowadays more than willing to part their top players into the JRFU.

Currently everyone is like, "NEW ZEALAND, NO!!!", silly really. We should play the best in the pools. Just shows that we want it easy peasy lemon squeezy. Look at pool C, those guys are scrumming up ideas today on how to progress towards the RWC. We are biting nails, due to piss poor management decisions. Two years, that is a long run in rugby terms.
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You mean we have 2 years to fall deeper into the hole. I can't see us turning anything around. Players will continue to leave the country to play overseas. Our best coaches will continue to leave to do the same thing, or Supersport will offer them contracts to be on there rugby panel. We will be lucky to finish in the top 8 me thinks.
 
mbayshark said:
You mean we have 2 years to fall deeper into the hole. I can't see us turning anything around. Players will continue to leave the country to play overseas. Our best coaches will continue to leave to do the same thing, or Supersport will offer them contracts to be on there rugby panel. We will be lucky to finish in the top 8 me thinks.
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Speculation.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
Speculation.
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Looking at Springbok rugby over the past 4 or so years the curve has not really been upwards has it. No signs of anything changing over the next 2. But yes, speculation. So let's hope I get proved wrong.
 
http://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...-ireland-right-behind-all-blacks-england.html

Rugby: Japan boss Joseph believes Ireland right behind All Blacks, England

Hope floated among the Japanese public after Wednesday's draw in Kyoto, where Joseph's side were slotted in Pool A with the Irish, Scotland, a qualifier from Europe and the winners of the qualifying playoff. None of the teams have won the World Cup before.

Joseph, however, tried to temper the fast-rising expectations for Japan, who will be trying to reach the knockout phase for the first time. The Japan Rugby Football Union is setting the bar very high, targeting the semifinals for Joseph's men in 2019.

"I read in the paper that we're in a favorable pool but this is the reality of the pool that we're in -- first and foremost, Ireland have beaten England and the All Blacks and in my mind, are the third best team in the world," Joseph said in Shiga Prefecture, before departing for Hong Kong for the Asia Rugby Championship.

"Secondly, Scotland's a team, who like Japan, are a very proud nation. Japan have never been able to beat them and it just highlights how big a challenge the 2019 World Cup will be."

"Having said that, the fact that the World Cup will be in Japan, playing at home in front of our fans, family and friends, it's a huge opportunity for Japan to play well."

...

Joseph said there are pros and cons to facing a top-tier side in the first game, and has no preference who Japan get in the opener.

"I guess there are two ways to look at it," he said. "You can play one of the Tier 1 teams straight away. If you're successful in beating them -- like what happened in 2015 -- you get a lot of confidence going forward, you get a lot of momentum and you have a successful tournament."

"Or, you lose and that puts a lot of pressure on the team. Then if you lose two, the tournament's over. Thankfully, I don't have to make that decision. I'll accept whatever's coming and prepare accordingly."
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Semi... yoh, Japan is setting that bar very high, but kudos to their goal and may they achieve success. They have it good though, they played Scotland last year, their June tests are against Ireland and the team likely to be the European team is Romania which they also play this year, France and Australia. Win or lose, they play three teams this year which is in their pool and two more tier 1 nations, they are receiving the ingredients early on.
 
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