Rugby World Cup 2011

[Mike the Pike]

Just in case you have been living under a rock for the past few months or are some sorta uncultured Barbarian, the Rugby World Cup kicks off later today in New Zealand. Apart from Sweden, teams from all NH's member countries will be participating. What I wanna know, is who you lot think is gonna win?

My beloved All Blacks are favourites (as always) ad are ranked No.1 in the World at the moment. It would be hard to go past them, except for their heart breaking habit of choking on this, the biggest stage of them all.
A dismal performance will plunge the country into a recession (no joke) but a win will send Kiwis at home and in the diaspora into ecstasies. We have the players, Dan the Man and Richie in particular, but can we fight through to the end?

Then there are the Aussies. They beat us a mere fortnight ago in Fortress-Brisbane but can they do it again? Will Quade and Genia work their magic or will NZ born Coops go AWOL? Will baby-faced James O'Connor wake up in time?

The Boks aren't out of it either. They haven't been at their best recently and have a reputation for not traveling well. However in wet conditions, their booooorrriiinnngggg 10 man style of rugby might just prevail. That is, if John Smit doesn't run out of puff.

I-n-g-e-r-l-a-n-d. Still have the same game plan as when they won the thing all those years ago. Grind the opposition down with their Jurassic-era (size and age) forwards and then let Sir Johnny blast away with his magic boots. The inclusion of some hard running Kiwis and Samoans in their back line isn't fooling anyone. Hopefully, Sir Johnny doesn't snap before the knock out stages.

France. Everyone in NZ forgets about 'Les Bleues' and our unflattering record against them in the RWC until they come out and beat us all over again. A definite Bogey-team for the ABs. That said, they are the team that can beat the ABs one day then a few months later lose to Canada! Which team will show up when the two meet up in their pool game. The Mercurial Magicians? The Cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys?

Scotland? Canada? Japan? USA? No chance this time around. They will all be home before their postcards.

What do you lot think?

[Spevna]

Rugby is for barbarians and brutes!!!! Give me a nice gentle round of golf sir!!!!

I'm afraid that I have to agree with you Pikey. The All-Blacks are fierce indeed but you never know, we could have another upset like what the French pulled off that time.

I don't think England are in it to be honest. I reckon that Johnny and his magic boot will be closed down. You also need to think about his condition too. The poor bloke is quite injury prone.

I haven't much rugby in a while though. The last game I remember watching was when Lomu was unleashed against England and he ran over (literally) Katz and the Underwood brothers. Was not a pretty sight to be sure.

[Spevna]

Guess there aren't too many rugby fans here.

[Konrad]

I'm not, but I did go out with pack of Irish as the token American for the Ireland/US game and had a nice time. USA! A truely sprited defense! Best that could be hoped for I imagine. Didn't know a damn thing about rugby before then. Know only enough now to appreciate there actually is a game going on, not just dudes shoving each other like I thought before.

[Primarch]

Know only enough now to appreciate there actually is a game going on, not just dudes shoving each other like I thought before.

I thought dudes shoving each other WAS the game.
I used to detest rugby back in school. We always played in winter so the ground was either frozen solid and hard as concrete or turned into an ice cold slurry. In my class it became standard for everyone to tackle the ball carrier as hard as possible with some trampling thrown in for good measure. Personally, I used to run away from the ball or pass it on as soon as possible.

[Primarch]

Sooooo, looks like New Zealand won the World Cup with a victory over France.

Well done All Blacks I guess.

However, one can't help but wonder how much they had to pay to make sure that the France/Wales semi final match had a French Ref who sent off the Welsh captain near the start of the game, leaving the Welsh a man down throughout. (The Welsh still only lost the game by 1 point despite this handicap).

[kojibear]

Cods wollop! No need to get yer knickers in a twist. No funny business goin' on down here. But yeah, that ref was a bit dodgy eh! Probably had a piss-up the night before, the plonker! Those Welsh fellas had a bit of hard yakka but they gave it heaps and were the true winners of the day.

Welp, better go and start shining that cup. Maybe empty a few tinnies into it and get on the piss eh!

(Wow, talking like a Kiwi is harder than it used to be )