Rugby World Cup

64 watchers

Little Nemo Oct 2023 7:14am, 29 Oct 2023 14,089 posts	0 Little Nemo Looking back this was a massive missed opportunity for France and Ireland. I think a final between those 2 teams would have been a boost for the game. I know that NZ and SA are titans but we need new winners!
LindsD Oct 2023 7:21am, 29 Oct 2023 64,715 posts	0 LindsD Yes. Really quite disappointed about Ireland's tournament, though happy I got to see them win.
Pothunter Oct 2023 7:36am, 29 Oct 2023 8,388 posts	0 Pothunter Down to the draw unfortunately. Hopefully next time round they do it closer to the start of the tournament and give us more balanced pools. Unfortunately losing in the quarters will cost both France and Ireland ranking points and boost England and Argentina higher than they should be. It will be interesting to see how all the sides look after the retirements of the old guard. Who has the depth to replace the superstars and who will slip back into mid-table mediocrity?
richmac Oct 2023 7:49am, 29 Oct 2023 24,045 posts	0 richmac Looking back this was a massive missed opportunity for France and Ireland. I think a final between those 2 teams would have been a boost for the game. I know that NZ and SA are titans but we need new winners! * Cough * England I loved France and Ireland's campaigns. They played beautifully and with such heart that were broken.
LindsD Oct 2023 7:51am, 29 Oct 2023 64,716 posts	0 LindsD
Cheg Oct 2023 7:51am, 29 Oct 2023 4,124 posts	0 Cheg The draw again? All it did was flip the semis and the quarters. You got your big game a round earlier and didn’t deliver. It ‘should’ have been South Africa v England France v Wales New Zealand v Argentina Ireland v Fiji Followed by South Africa v France - which France lost New Zealand v Ireland - which Ireland lost The World rankings are still 1) South Africa 2) New Zealand 3) Ireland 4) France They do what they need to, they’ll get what they deserve in four years time.
Little Nemo Oct 2023 8:11am, 29 Oct 2023 14,090 posts	0 Little Nemo But Ireland and France would have played more games if it had gone as above, Cheg. Maybe the same result, but Ireland would have broken their QF block. Also it would have been better for the French public and the atmosphere in the SF if the home side was there. But sport is brutal, so I just hope they can rebuild for the next one.
jda Oct 2023 8:19am, 29 Oct 2023 15,735 posts	0 jda So, based on rankings going in to the event: SA(2) had to play 1,3,4,5 and lost a group game to 1, winning the other games NZ(4) had to play 1,2,3 and lost to both 2 and 3 but they beat 1. Ire(1) beat 2 and 5 before losing to 4 Fra(3) beat 4 before losing to 2 Eng(8) played no-one higher than 6 until they lost to 2 in the semi, then beat 6 again Arg(6) beat no-one higher than 10, lost to 4 and lost twice to 8 Looks like Arg had an even luckier draw than Eng really. After all, they only had to play Eng, whereas Eng had to play Arg!
richmac Oct 2023 8:24am, 29 Oct 2023 24,047 posts	0 richmac The rankings 1 -4 maybe 1-6 are literally a fag paper apart as this WC has demonstrated.
Little Nemo Oct 2023 8:30am, 29 Oct 2023 14,091 posts	0 Little Nemo Anyway it will be very different next time round as there will 24 teams, I think? So 3 pool games and a round of 16 before the QFs.