Author: Chris McCracken

The Wallabies come into this World Cup as one of the favourites. But to traverse to the final, they need to make it out of the toughest pool and, if not, South Africa and New Zealand in the quarter and semi finals. All of this against the backdrop of poor perceptions about our scrum and our ability to keep it together when the going gets tough. We’ll do it, though – and here’s why….. 1.  Super Pooper! View image | gettyimages.com “Pooper – No longer divided” It’s our (not so) secret weapon. And, like all secret weapons, it has caused…

They’ve swept all before them. They are at about $2.30 to win the whole thing. They’ve lost just one of their last ten – and they punished the Wallabies for that a week later. But favourites wear the pressure, and the All Blacks are very, very favoured. The pressure is truly upon them to send their veterans out winners.  1.  A Dynasty View image | gettyimages.com We often speak of dynasties in sport. In Australia, we hear of the Queensland State of Origin dynasty. The Americans have their NFL dynasties of the 49ers of the 80s and 90s and the Patriots…

The Springboks are struggling. They’ve had a tough Rugby Championship, losing to Argentina and dropping to the bottom of the table. They’ve an ageing team with a long injury list and they’ve faced draining political issues at home. It will take good management, tenacity, and more than a little luck for the Boks to win their third Webb-Ellis trophy. 1.  Rugby Championship Woes View image | gettyimages.com The Springboks aren’t used to losing to Argentina. They certainly aren’t used to coming last in the Rugby Championship. Neither of these have happened since Argentina came on board in 2012. Both happened…

The English have much of the home field advantage, as they did in 1999 when Australia brought back Bill for the second time. This time, though, they have a very tough pool and a closer field in general. They don’t have a firmly established midfield and they’ve had a few off field dramas. How will they cope come Friday night and beyond? 1.  Farrell and Ford View image | gettyimages.com The English, by reputation, have a reliance on the flyhalf position at the World Cup. Although, to be fair, Rob Andrew and Jonny Wilkinson have dominated the 10 jersey at…

Wales come into the Cup at fifth in the world rankings. It’s an indication of how competitive their pool will be that they are widely tipped to miss out – perhaps even behind Fiji. It will be a tough ask for the Dragons, but their strategy works well in tournament Rugby. 1.  Halfpenny and Webb View image | gettyimages.com These two blokes would have rated a mention in this article in any case, but they are here for all of the wrong reasons. Both suffered injuries in last Saturday’s warmup win over Italy. Furthermore, it has since been confirmed that…

 Ireland have competed at every Rugby World Cup. In six of them, they have been eliminated in the quarter finals and they have never made the semis. This year, though, they are coming off two Six Nations championships in a row and face a pretty pedestrian pool to give them a shot that they’ve never really had before. They have also had a strong year outside the Six Nations, defeating both Australia and South Africa in their November tours last year. 1.  The Luck of the Irish View image | gettyimages.com A good team makes its own luck. And Ireland have…

There is not a more clichéd or stereotyped team than the French. Nor are those stereotypes unfair on Les Bleus, however. They tend to win with saviour-faire, in alignment with the French stereotype. But they also lose in abject capitulations, also in line with the stereotype unfairly placed upon the rest of France. They are every bit as prone to off-field drama – just as they are typecast. It’s another cliché, but it really does depend which French team turns up as to how they’ll do in a game. The good news is, the French usually bring the noise at the…

Argentina have been to all of the World Cups and have made it out of the pool stages three times – in 1999, 2007 and 2011. In 2007, they placed third in the tournament. Los Pumas have come even further since then and will be considered a threat to repeat the success of the 2007 tournament. 1.  The Rugby Championship Argentina have been a good team for a long, long time. Since their spectacular success at the 2007 World Cup, they have continued to improve – especially in their consistency. Since coming into TRC in 2012, Los Pumas spent a couple…

Fiji face the toughest pool they have ever had to in their six prior appearances. However, this one of the best Fijian teams to ever take the field, with most of the players being professionals in some part of the world. They’ll be expected to make an impact on the pool and to cause problems for the top three teams trying to progress. 1.  The ‘Smith Prophecy’ As if there wasn’t enough talk about the potential fortunes of the teams in Pool A, when George weighed in recently, he managed to change the focus of discussions. While the world debated which…

Until 2011, the Scots had made the quarters at every World Cup. They were expected to then, as well. But they were pipped by Argentina for that spot. They face the same risks this time, albeit with a different threat from the southern hemisphere. 1.  Six Nations Struggles Scotland’s last two campaigns in the Six Nations have been decidedly ordinary. In 2014, they beat Italy in a very tight match to prevent the wooden spoon, but this year – even after the introduction of Kiwi coach, Vern Cotter – they went one worse. Their 0-5 record securing the wooden spoon…

  This year, we’ll see Samoa’s 7th tilt at the Cup. They’ve drawn well in their pool and will rate themselves a good shot at making the quarters for the fourth time. To do so, though, they’ll have to overcome more issues than most of their competitors. Can they overcome those issues and maintain their good form coming into the tournament? 1.  A Proud World Cup History Samoa have been to the quarters three times before – in 1991, 1995 and 1999. In 1995, they beat both Argentina and Italy to progress. But it was their massive upset over Wales in 1991…

Tonga come into the World Cup ranked #11 in the world and on the back of a strong Pacific Nations Cup performance, where their only loss was against eventual winners, Fiji. In their pool, Tonga needs to fight off threats from Georgia while targeting a win against Argentina for a shot of making the quarters for the first time. 1.  Ever Improving Tonga have contested every World Cup except 1991. Over that period of time, ‘Ikale Tahi (Sea Eagles) have steadily improved. The culmination was a victory over France in the pool stages in 2011. All that stood between them…

The Italians have a lot to play for in this year’s World Cup. Not only are they the underdogs, playing for an upset to get them into the quarter-finals. They are also playing for respect among those who believe they should be demoted from the 6 Nations for upstarts, Georgia. [Our resident Italian 22Metri has combined to give you an insiders view with these first 5 things] Italy has been part of the Rugby World Cup nations since the first edition in 1987, they never managed to exit the group stages, but managed to win two games each of the last three…

USA! USA! USA!…..  Okay, a bit over the top there. But here’s something to consider. Rugby is on the up in the States and their increased coaching and participation have improved the national team’s outlook. This might just end up being the Eagles’ year in the Rugby World Cup. 1.  The Recent Form The Yanks have been getting progressively better over the last few years. This year, they’ve won 3 of the 5 tests they’ve played. The two losses came during the Pacific Nations Cup against the much higher-ranked Tonga and Samoa. And they were close losses. They also defeated Japan…

The Brave Blossoms have improved in the last several years under former Wallabies coach, Eddie Jones. Currently 14th in the World Rugby Rankings, they have progressed from perennial easy-beats to being competitive at the Pacific Nations Cup. This year, they have the potential to throw the cat among the pigeons in Pool B. 1.  The Coach You can’t enter into a discussion about Japan without discussing Eddie Jones. The former Wallabies coach and RWC 2003 Runner Up took over the reins from John Kirwan in 2012. Since then, Japan have improved not just their record, but their quality of…

Canada have been to all seven World Cups. They’ve run up six wins and two draws in that time and made it to the quarters in 1991. But they’ve fallen to #18 on the World Rankings – below many teams they used to beat easily. What do Canada need to do to get back in front of those nations? 1.  The Recent Form View image | gettyimages.com The Canucks had a tough year at the Pacific Nations Cup this year. After strong years in 2013 (2nd) and 2014 (3rd), they fell to 6th this year. Looks can be a bit…

They’ve only been on the international scene for 26 years because they were once part of the USSR. But, in that time, Georgia have become quite a force in Europe and are in pretty good form coming into this World Cup. They are unlikely to progress out of their pool, but it will be a tight race for second and Georgia will want to be in it. 1. European Upstarts Georgia didn’t qualify for a World Cup until 2003. They won their first World Cup match in 2007 with a victory over Namibia and beat close rivals Romania in 2011.…

Romania has competed in all of the World Cups since 1987. They tend to struggle at that level and it’s hard to tell where the largely amateur team will be in an increasingly intense and competitive environment. 1. It’s All About the Forwards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gAWFbic4H8 Romania has a very positive strength. That is their scrum. Like a lot of the tier 2 nations such as Uruguay and Georgia (and Argentina in past decades), their scrum is a focal point and they take advantage of some big units and competitive, technical scrummaging to make it a feature of their game. In fact,…

Namibia has competed at four World Cups and not won a game in any of them. What are the keys for Namibia to change their luck in 2015?

Uruguay have qualified twice for the World Cup before. This year, they are in the toughest pool in the competition and will be up against it from the start. Their main hope will be an upset win over Fiji. Here are five things you need to know about the team before you sit down to watch them play the Wallabies on September 27. 1.  They are Los Teros The Teros is also known as the Southern Lapwing. It’s a lot like our plover, but without the dirty great spike on the wing and aggressive nature. One of the bird’s primary…