Rugby World Cup 2007

[Xavier]

Nobody's interested? Competition is being held in France, New Zealand "all blacks" are favourites and host-team France come close second but they have been beaten by proud Argentina in the first match.
20 teams from all the world are taking part, divided in 4 groups of 5 teams, struggling to be the 2 from each group who'll reach the quarterfinals. Japan is the only asian country as this sport is not much popular in the widest continent.

Here it is the official site:
http://www.rugbyworldcup.com

Enjoy!

[abdulw11]

I've watched tiny bits of a few matches. Quite good stuff.

I remember the last World Cup. I didn't watch a single match and then all of a sudden I decided to put on the last few minutes of the final, and I saw Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal. It was a great moment.

[Puck]

i am only interested in rugby if england plays wales

[Sohel]

AB ATW !!!

ALLEZ LES BLEUS !!!

[Xavier]

South Africa thrash 2003 world champion England 36-0 (!) in a group stage match.

[Miraz]

Originally Posted by Xavier
South Africa thrash 2003 world champion England 36-0 (!) in a group stage match.

I saw it coming.

A bad day for England. A sound thrashing in Cricket followed by a brutal thumping in Rugby.

[sandpiper]

Go New Zealand go......
I am with the black caps

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by sandpiper
Go New Zealand go......
I am with the black caps

They are the All-Blacks at rugby mate!

...ande here is their famous "haka":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswCB9tLuyY

that's scary!

[sandpiper]

oops... i didnt know that ... thanks anyway

Originally Posted by Xavier
They are the All-Blacks at rugby mate!

...ande here is their famous "haka":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswCB9tLuyY

that's scary!

[Hatebreed]

Originally Posted by Xavier
They are the All-Blacks at rugby mate!

...ande here is their famous "haka":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswCB9tLuyY

that's scary!

That is quite a performance! Rugby is a real men's sport. American futbol whaaaat?

[Puck]

Originally Posted by Miraz
I saw it coming.

A bad day for England. A sound thrashing in Cricket followed by a brutal thumping in Rugby.

the present team is a shadow of the team that dominated world rugby from 2000-2003..

[abdulw11]

Originally Posted by Xavier
They are the All-Blacks at rugby mate!

...ande here is their famous "haka":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswCB9tLuyY

that's scary!

My class did a haka once for assembly, in primary school. One of the teachers was from New Zealand, and he taught us. It was nowhere near as scary as the real one, but very fun nonetheless.

[Xavier]

"Kids-haka"? Looks funny...

btw today New Zealand beat Portugal 108-13... thrashing was quite predictable as it was a match between the legends of the game and the only amateur team to reach the world cup. At least Portugal could score a try...

Competition will last until October 20!

[israr]

No one's following this event? That brings the question about the popularity of this sport.

[Xavier]

I know this sport is not popular in Asia, but i.e. it is much more popular than cricket in Europe!

In the meantime the first stage of the competition is over. Two of the so-called Super-8 (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa + England, Scotland, Wales, Irealand + France) couldn't make it to the quarter-finals as Fiji surprisingly beat Wales 38-34 in what was described as the best match of the tournament and Argentina beat Ireland 30-15 showing that their win on France was no fluke.

Calendar for 1/4 finals:

06 oct 2007

	AUS	-	ENG		Marseille
	NZL	-	FRA		Cardiff

07 oct 2007

	RSA	-	FJI		Marseille
	ARG	-	SCO		Saint-Denis

Australia-England is revenge for for last WC final that England won in Sydney, I think that Oz should win quite easily... NZ could get past France too. It is a revenge of WC1999 semifinal when France beat the All Blacks in what was called the greatest upset in World Cup history. Other favourites are South Africa (should easily beat Fiji) and Argentina, who have a great chance to reach the semi-finals for the first time.

[ammark]

TV5 Asie is showing the Quarterfinals onwards live here. The commentary is in french, but what the hey... last nights Les Bleus vs All Blacks was a Great contest. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The All Blacks held possession for 70% of the game and man they drove with their scrums and rucks.

Great credit to France for holding their line and keeping it tidy. I've always rooted for the all blacks, but last night and this world cup I'm supporting France. The Semifinal Eng v France will be great contest too. I hope France makes it to the finals and plays the Boks

Score: Fra 20 - 18 NZL

Currently waiting for "L'Argentine vs Ecosse" match
and later tonight "Afrique D'Sud vs Fidji"

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by ammark
I hope France makes it to the finals and plays the Boks

That could really happen... big surprises from yeasterday's matches as Australia missed revenge for WC03 final and New Zealand once again suffered for their "world cup curse" losing to France as it happened in '99. It's the first time the All Blacks miss reaching the semifinals and they keep on waiting four more years for another win in this tournament, as they only won first edition in 1987... really weird for a team that is considered at rugby what Brasil is for football!

Today South Africa beat Fiji 37-20 but it wasn't easy as Fiji could bounce back from 6-20 to 20-20 in the second half before the Springboks could score the winning tries.

Last quarterfinal to be played this evening Argentina-Scotland. The Pumas are favourites after their brilliant 1st stage (beat both France and Ireland) but you never know... I'm still going to watch the match on the myp2p site...

[Bearman]

This has been a great tournament, competitive pool stages, second tier teams causing upsets and giving a good account of themselves in the knock out rounds, full stadia. Not sure if there's anything the Cricket WC could learn from such a differant sport but Rugby seems to have a format that works, despite being no more 'global' than Cricket.

[Mohiul]

The biggest upset of this world cup is New Zealand being defeated by France in quarter final

[ammark]

Originally Posted by bdcricmad
The biggest upset of this world cup is New Zealand being defeated by France in quarter final

not sure I agree with this generally. The wallabies, boks and all blacks are always neck and neck against each other. They always do a good fight. England and France are always one step behind. A solid defence and a few breaks, and its anybody's game. But I did notice that Argentina vs Scotland didnt have the same intensity and toughness as France vs NZ or usual Tri Nations games.

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by Bearman
This has been a great tournament, competitive pool stages, second tier teams causing upsets and giving a good account of themselves in the knock out rounds, full stadia. Not sure if there's anything the Cricket WC could learn from such a differant sport but Rugby seems to have a format that works, despite being no more 'global' than Cricket.

I don't know if cricket is more global than rugby... cricket is much more popular than rugby in Asia, but on the other hand rugby is by far more popular than cricket in Europe and in Latin America.

Quarterfinals completed as Argentina beat Scotland 19-13 in Saint Denis stadium.

This is the fixtures for the semifinals:

Date - Time			Result			Venue
13 Oct - 21:00		England	-	France		Saint-Denis
14 Oct - 21:00		South Africa	-	Argentina		Saint-Denis

I'm expecting France and South Africa to reach the final, though matches could be well contested... my prediction:
France-England 60% - 40%
South Africa - Argentina 65% - 35%

[Bearman]

Xavier,
In sheer numbers Cricket has far more fans, but I suppose Rugby has a base in more countries than cricket, (and relies less on expats) so I take your point.
Agree with your predictions.
Are you Italian? shame this wasn't the tournament for the Azurri to take a step up. Hopefully next time you'll an easier group and a stronger team

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by Bearman
Xavier,
In sheer numbers Cricket has far more fans, but I suppose Rugby has a base in more countries than cricket, (and relies less on expats) so I take your point.

Yes, cricket is the "second sport in the world" for number of fans (past football), but basically it's because such countries as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh are so populated... maybe rugby is popular in a bit more countries. Also, unlike cricket, rugby is popular in non-Commonwealth countries like France, Argentina, Italy...
I like both sports anyway... though I consider rugby to be somehow "elitarian" for the simple reason that you can only play it if you are a giant or stg like that!

Are you Italian? shame this wasn't the tournament for the Azurri to take a step up. Hopefully next time you'll an easier group and a stronger team

Yes I'm an italian who had the chance to know about this fascinating sport cricket is, and I enjoy communicating in this forum with people from a far far country!
About the Azzurri at this world cup: I think we missed a great chance to finally reach quarterfinals but we are not a great team anyway... it's more about Scotland being on a decline... we had a great team at the end of the '90s and that's when we were admitted to the 5 nations... but after that generation we had few good moments... Argentina is a team that has really improved a lot!

[israr]

Well, I have been following this event with great enthusiasm right from the very beginning. But I fear I am the only one amongst my aquaintances who's even aware of a any 'World Cup' going on. My Arab friends are more interested in the current cricket series' going on. Whenever I start to discuss this topic of Rugby World Cup with my friends, they seem to ignore me. Except for one Tanzanian friend of mine, everyone else are diffident to listen to me relating to this subject. This has forced me to belive that rugby is completely non-existent in this part of the world according to my experience, excluding Japan maybe, though I highly doubt that. Even the media coverage for Rugby world cup in UAE hasn't been that impressive when compared with the Cricket or football WC. However, leaving these things aside, I badly want the Pumas or the French to lift the Web-Ellis Trophy, and Brian Ashton's men vs the energized host nation will surely be one heck of a semifinal.

[israr]

This Johny Wilkinson is amazing.

Whatsoever, go Pumas go, you've got the firepower!!