RWC Pool of Death / Choke Matches

[#1 Tah]

I rekkon South Africa could be in for a tough time at the RWC, they seemed to draw the hardest pool, despite wining in 07.

Samoa proved they are to be feared, and I am not sure that PdV will take them seriously.

I also have a list of 3 (so far) matches where there is huge potential for a choke.

South Africa V Samoa
New Zealand V France
England V Scotland

Thoughs?

 

[Baldric]

Agree with that being the hardest pool. I think that PdV will take the games seriously, however it will mean that SA will not have must chance to give their top players a rest. This in itself is not a bad thing as they have had their rest prior to the RWC and would need some good games to get themselves back into some sort of shape.
So, while you are correct, it is not such a bad thing.

 

[PaarlBok]

I rekkon South Africa could be in for a tough time at the RWC, they seemed to draw the hardest pool, despite wining in 07.

Samoa proved they are to be feared, and I am not sure that PdV will take them seriously.

I also have a list of 3 (so far) matches where there is huge potential for a choke.

South Africa V Samoa
New Zealand V France
England V Scotland

Thoughs?

They said the same thing back in 2007 when we got England in our pool. After winning it we do hear a lot about our lucky draw we had.

Personally I like this. Its always excellent going into the business end on form out of a tough pool. Trust me on this one.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

I'd add to your list of choke matches, adding

Italy v Ireland
Wales v everyone in their pool

 

[Army_Gav]

Does Fiji vs Namibia count? Maiden RWC win for Namibia

 

[AngrySeahorse]

For mine its potentially Ireland v USA, the game is scheduled for 9/11, the USA would have to have some serious emotions and motivation to play well. Ireland have been playing crap leading up the RWC (shame cause I love Ireland). USA long shots but you never know.

 

[undercoverkiwi]

No-one seems to be considering the poetntial for Ireland to trouble the Wallabies. Their job will be a lot harder now they've lost David Wallace, as well as their last 4 games on the trot, but they'll be going all out for your lot cause it will pretty much define their RWC (they'll expect to get bummed in the quarters if they finish 2nd in their group). They would have seen how we troubled you in the second half on Saturday playing Munsterball. A bit of rain (not unlikely) and the bounce of the ball and they could cause an upset.

 

[undercoverkiwi]

I rekkon South Africa could be in for a tough time at the RWC, they seemed to draw the hardest pool, despite wining in 07.

Samoa proved they are to be feared, and I am not sure that PdV will take them seriously.

I also have a list of 3 (so far) matches where there is huge potential for a choke.

South Africa V Samoa
New Zealand V France
England V Scotland

Thoughs?

Frogs are talking abot thowing their game aginst us with a B Team. The cheese-eating garlic-munching bsatrds.

 

[Jay]

They said the same thing back in 2007 when we got England in our pool. After winning it we do hear a lot about our lucky draw we had.

Personally I like this. Its always excellent going into the business end on form out of a tough pool. Trust me on this one.

To be fair, you were hugely lucky with the draw in 07 especially considering the Boks were technically the 2nd seeded team in that pool.

 

[Skippy]

France v All Blacks - if the French put out their strongest lineup and the Blacks haven't got Reed and Thompson back in the match day squad... and Mils remains out of form whilst the referee blows the NZ team up all day for all their infringements/cheating

France v Tonga

Aus v Ireland - we may have just beaten the All Blacks and be a 40 point better team then Ireland, who are in terrible form. But I won't be taking anything for granted. We've all seen in the past the Wallabies struggle to back up within 7 days and put in repeat performances. Deans may also make some dumb selections which will affect the team.

I also see several good performances by Fiji and Samoa which will make life tough for Wales and SAfrica in that pool. But equally if Argentina can find some form Pool C with England and Scotland is not going to be easy.

 

[Jay]

Frogs are talking abot thowing their game aginst us with a B Team. The cheese-eating garlic-munching bsatrds.

I just don't get the logic in that - if things in Pool B go as expected, it would mean France get a match up against England instead of Argentina or possibly Scotland. While the French struggled with the Pumas in 07, you'd have to think they'd back themselves more than in a matchup against England. And if Scotland manage to grab second place in that pool, there's a big advantage in coming first in the AB/France pool.

 

[undercoverkiwi]

I just don't get the logic in that - if things in Pool B go as expected, it would mean France get a match up against England instead of Argentina or possibly Scotland. While the French struggled with the Pumas in 07, you'd have to think they'd back themselves more than in a matchup against England. And if Scotland manage to grab second place in that pool, there's a big advantage in coming first in the AB/France pool.

Their logic (this is the French, remember) is that they don't think they can beat New Zealand twice to win the RWC (they're assuming we will make the final).

I wouldn't be surprised if they are just being cunning, giving us a soft pool so we turn up at the QFs underdone, again.

 

[Bruwheresmycar]

Thoughts?

Go Scotland!

 

[Jay]

Their logic (this is the French, remember) is that they don't think they can beat New Zealand twice to win the RWC (they're assuming we will make the final).

I wouldn't be surprised if they are just being cunning, giving us a soft pool so we turn up at the QFs underdone, again.

To be fair, putting out a shit team and getting smashed did work for them in 99 & 07....

I think it's mental though - even if they're worried they can't beat the AB's twice, their best bet would be to try and knock the AB's off, and then hope that England or Australia can put them out on the other side of the draw.

 

[undercoverkiwi]

To be fair, putting out a shit team and getting smashed did work for them in 99 & 07....

I think it's mental though - even if they're worried they can't beat the AB's twice, their best bet would be to try and knock the AB's off, and then hope that England or Australia can put them out on the other side of the draw.

Like I said, it's the French...

Scotland tried this in 2007, and to be fair it was enver going to work, and it didn't get them anywhere, and it upset our chances as well. So the whole notion of throwing games in an RWC dosen't sit well with me.

There's a lot of Welsh support for throwing their opening game against SA for various reasons; ranging from wrapping their players in cotton wool to prevent injury, to giving them a better chance of overcoming Samoa and Fiji, or thinking coming 2nd in the group and meeting the Wallabies in the QF and England in the SF is an easier route to the final.

The French thinking might genuinely be that in every World Cup they seem to have one good game in them, and if they want to win it they need to save their good gamefor the final. It's bonkers, but they're French.

 

[PaarlBok]

To be fair, you were hugely lucky with the draw in 07 especially considering the Boks were technically the 2nd seeded team in that pool.

What you mean lucky? 2nd seeded and we still top the pool and had Samoa also in our pool. The All Blacks had no meaning pool opposition and end up losing to France. Wallabies were knocked out by England which we beat twice in the tournament. Tough pool matches is a good thing in this tournament. Means fuckall to rack tons in the pools matches and go into the big matches over confident and get send packing after 80 minutes.

 

[undercoverkiwi]

What you mean lucky? 2nd seeded and we still top the pool and had Samoa also in our pool. The All Blacks had no meaning pool opposition and end up losing to France. Wallabies were knocked out by England which we beat twice in the tournament. Tough pool matches is a good thing in this tournament. Means fuckall to rack tons in the pools matches and go into the big matches over confident and get send packing after 80 minutes.

I think by lucky he means that you won a RWC by playing England (twice), Samoa, Fiji, and Argentina. You didn't play anoyone that was very good.

You make your own luck though. Thrashing England in the pool was the path to glory.

 

[Jay]

What you mean lucky? 2nd seeded and we still top the pool and had Samoa also in our pool. The All Blacks had no meaning pool opposition and end up losing to France. Wallabies were knocked out by England which we beat twice in the tournament. Tough pool matches is a good thing in this tournament. Means fuckall to rack tons in the pools matches and go into the big matches over confident and get send packing after 80 minutes.

2nd seeded in the pool, but with the worst 'top seed' by a fairly large margin. And while you can only beat who's in front of you, that was an absolute dream run in the knockout stages. If you look at the Boks bogey teams, it'd probably be NZ and then France with Aus also a tough matchup, whereas I'd say England at that time would probably have been the perfect opponents for the Boks in that they played pretty much the same game but nowhere near as well.

The AB's & Wallabies both shat the bed, but that's not the point.

 

[antipodean]

How does losing to France, currently ranked fourth in the world, suddenly become a choke? Australia hasn't won in New Zealand since 2001. The French since 2009...

 

[undercoverkiwi]

How does losing to France, currently ranked fourth in the world, suddenly become a choke? Australia hasn't won in New Zealand since 2001. The French since 2009...

You can't choke in the pools.