Official 2011 Rugby World Cup Thread

Man I love these match times! I can be hammered off my ass before midday and have a legitimate excuse.

Let's hope we kick the ass and I will be keeping a close eye on Argentina - they really know how to entertain at the WC.
 
The surprise for me is Odwa's selection. I thought Mvov's would've been selected instead... he is with the bok team yet Odwa played for the Sharks at the weekend. Mvovo is a left wing and could've been backup to Habana. Now we have 3 right wingers and 1 out-and-out left winger. Bit of a funny one.


MickeyD said:
What pleases me is that there has been no bitching about quotas and window dressing.
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Yea it has been nice and quiet.
 
APoc84 said:
FORWARDS:

Willem Alberts
Bakkies Botha
Heinrich Brussow
Schalk Burger
Bismarck du Plessis
Jannie du Plessis
Francois Louw
Victor Matfield (v/capt)
Beast Mtawarira
Johann Muller
Chiliboy Ralepelle
Danie Rossouw
John Smit (Capt)
Pierre Spies
Gurthro Steenkamp
CJ van der Linde


BACKS:

Gio Aplon
Juan de Jongh
Jean de Villiers
Fourie du Preez
Jaque Fourie
Bryan Habana
Francois Hougaard
Butch James
Patrick Lambie
Odwa Ndungane
Ruan Pienaar
JP Pietersen
Frans Steyn
Morne Steyn
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All and all I am happy. The question has to be asked though why Mvovo was left out at the expense of Odwa?

Also I can not really see a reason why Ruan Pienaar is there. Dit he perhaps perform above and beyond expectations for his club that I am not aware of?

I feel that we might be a centre to light but I guess Butch can play at inside.

Also I would have left Danie Russouw at home if we were not so thin on locks.

All and all I am happy with the selection :)

PS. Anyone know what happened at the announcement as oon the radio they said: "...the announcement that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons....".
 
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MickeyD said:
What pleases me is that there has been no bitching about quotas and window dressing.
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Although I would like to see more being done in development of the game, all players made this team on merit.
 
@Devill, Dan Retief mentioned the other day that Odwa was possibly a better man on defense than Mvovo.

That said, Mvovo was unlucky to miss out. He's superb on attack and blitz vinnig.
 
McT said:
Although I would like to see more being done in development of the game, all players made this team on merit.
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+1. Barring John Smith :p:D

McT said:
@Devill, Dan Retief mentioned the other day that Odwa was possibly a better man on defense than Mvovo.

That said, Mvovo was unlucky to miss out. He's superb on attack and blitz vinnig.
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I also thought that he might be a bit more familiar with the Bok's defensive paterns etc etc.

I would still have picked Mvovo though as I feel he has a lot more pace and strength that could be used to "fill" the slight defensive downside.
 
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Odwa is possibly better on defence, and believe it or not he does a pretty good job of covering the fullback position if he is required to. He's actually pretty decent at 15.

He is slower and less powerful than Mvovs. I definitely can see myself screaming at the TV when he's in the open and people are chasing him down :)
 
Nice.

TY MCD and Apoc for the team list, time table and that spread sheet is pretty awesome.

What does everyone think of the opposition teams in our group?
 
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Ronjay said:
Nice.
What does everyone think of the opposition teams in our group?
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Wales will be hunting for the upset and in so doing may just under-estimate Samoa who are of course feeling strong off that Oz win. Fiji has its moments but I expect a minor bruising encounter rather than any real threat from them. Namibia is just too under-developed imo. I expect that our hardest foes will be Wales followed closely by Samoa. Fiji will be a rest day for some players and Namibia will be when Habana finally gets to score in the Green n Gold again.

Samoa, Wales both by 5 to 10
Namibia, Fiji both by 20 to 30

That said, I do think we can totally undo both Wales and Samoa by greater margins but the effort is not worth the reward, since BPs don't count.
 
Wales are a very good side but I think we will be hungry and ready for them. I see Gatland is talking up Wales chances of winning the pool, exactly the motivation the Boks need...
 
hungrybeaver said:
Odwa is possibly better on defence, and believe it or not he does a pretty good job of covering the fullback position if he is required to. He's actually pretty decent at 15.
He is slower and less powerful than Mvovs. I definitely can see myself screaming at the TV when he's in the open and people are chasing him down :)
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But we have enough cover at full back :p :D

Ronjay said:
What does everyone think of the opposition teams in our group?
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Wales obviously will be our toughest rivals but we should be able to negate any disasters if we don't try anything too fancy. They are ranked 6th in the world.
Namibia should be a push over as they are ranked 20th.
Fiji is ranked 15th in the world so should not pose any real danger.
Somoa (ranked 10th) are super physical and if I were the coach I would shield my top players from this game as much as possible.
 
GreGorGy said:
Wales will be hunting for the upset and in so doing may just under-estimate Samoa who are of course feeling strong off that Oz win. Fiji has its moments but I expect a minor bruising encounter rather than any real threat from them. Namibia is just too under-developed imo. I expect that our hardest foes will be Wales followed closely by Samoa. Fiji will be a rest day for some players and Namibia will be when Habana finally gets to score in the Green n Gold again.

Samoa, Wales both by 5 to 10
Namibia, Fiji both by 20 to 30

That said, I do think we can totally undo both Wales and Samoa by greater margins but the effort is not worth the reward, since BPs don't count.
Click to expand...



Devill said:
Wales obviously will be our toughest rivals but we should be able to negate any disasters if we don't try anything too fancy. They are ranked 6th in the world.
Namibia should be a push over as they are ranked 20th.
Fiji is ranked 15th in the world so should not pose any real danger.
Somoa (ranked 10th) are super physical and if I were the coach I would shield my top players from this game as much as possible.
Click to expand...

I'm a little afraid of Wales, TBH. They are a good side, yes, but I'm more concerned with our own problems going into the tournament. Enough problems for Wales to potentially capitalize on? Not an impossibility. Samoa and Fiji are going to be bruisers. And Samoa must be thinking to themselves that they've got a very good chance.

Namibia are going to be a feature of the group.;):D
 
Ronjay said:
I'm a little afraid of Wales, TBH. They are a good side, yes, but I'm more concerned with our own problems going into the tournament. Enough problems for Wales to potentially capitalize on? Not an impossibility. Samoa and Fiji are going to be bruisers. And Samoa must be thinking to themselves that they've got a very good chance.

Namibia are going to be a feature of the group.;):D
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I saw Wales Vs Argentina on tv and also Wales Vs England.

Our B team will beat them.
 
alf101 said:
We might.

We'll have to use our B team for Samoa though, they'll just be out to see how many big name players they can injure.
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Agree 100%. and who knows if we beat wales we can because then it does not matter if we win or lose against Samoa (not that I think we will).
 
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