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The Time Is Nigh


By Bedfordshire Boy
September 9 2015

It doesn`t seem like 4 years have passed since a pretty shambolic England display, both on and off the pitch, in the2011 RWC but the 2015 competition will soon be with us. Most warm up games have now been completed with a few surprising results, two examples being Italy in Wales and Scotland in France at the weekend. It goes to show that if any of the perceived front runners take their eye off of the ball they could end up in trouble.

England have been progressing well culminating in a well deserved win against The Irish at Twickenham, I am sure most of us would have preferred a few changes to the final 31 man squad but now is the time to put all that behind us and support the team. Having watched the Fijians play at The Stoop on Sunday it is obvious that England are in for a bruising encounter in their opening match but they should have enough to get through the game with a win if they play to their potential.  The Welsh have suffered a couple of setbacks after the weekend losing both Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb to injury but they still have enough in the tank to cause England problems. I expect England to negotiate this hurdle with a close win as they have home advantage so the crowd will have to play their part. I find the England v Australia game much harder to predict, a lot will depend upon the England pack establishing a strong foundation for the backs to play from but that is not a foregone conclusion following recent matches. There can only be one result from the England Uruguay game but England need to be ruthless and score as many points as possible in case the pool is decided by points difference following close games between England, Wales and Australia. I expect England to qualify for the quarter finals from the pool and with luck sit at the top of the table.

As usual New Zealand are the bookies favourites as they normally are but have only managed to come through the competition as winners twice to date, both times playing on home soil. Australia, South Africa, France and England I would but forward as the main contenders against The All Blacks retaining their title as I suspect that Wales and Ireland probably do not have enough strength in depth to go all the way.

Whatever happens I am sure that we will be in for some great rugby and there will certainly be a few surprise results with Scotland, Italy, Samoa, Fiji and Argentina all capable of taking a big scalp.

What odds on an England v Australia final I wonder?

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The Time Is Nigh
Discussion started by ComeAllWithin.co.uk , 09/09/2015 17:34
ComeAllWithin.co.uk
09/09/2015 17:34
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DOK.
09/09/2015 17:43
Thanks for the rescue,BB.

Good analysis. Fiji looked pretty tricky and could be a banana skin. If we stay well organised and avoid headless chicken mode we should be OK. Use our discipline against their flair.

Wales? Again, England should have the beating of them.

Uruguay? As you say only one result.

But Australia? Hmmm..... Not sure our pack looked that good against France. Hope Rowntree has been sorting it.

Adi Nako
10/09/2015 09:03
Personally I think an England Australia final is unlikely for a number of reasons, but in part due to the route taken for the group runner up. First place playing Argentina then France/Ireland, second place playing New Zealand and South Africa.

Personally I think whoever wins pool A, especially if they do it with a clean sweep, will be in the final.

I think Ireland are more likely to lift the trophy than France. The latter are too flaky. I think Ireland will win the head to head and they have reasonable strength which should survive an average amount of injuries.

Having been at the second Japan vs Uruguay match, my prediction is that the latter will comfortably beat the RWC record for points conceded in the pool stages. I'm guessing a floor of 350. Incidentally, Uruguay are so poor at defending their rucks, Care may come out of the pool stages high up the list of try scorers, even if he barely plays in the other games!

harlequinade
12/10/2015 17:31
Quote:
It goes to show that if any of the perceived front runners take their eye off of the ball they could end up in trouble.

How prescient!

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. “ – Mark Twain

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