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Conan The Westy 
"Father, Faithful Friend, Fwiffer"
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 Posted - 10/07/2007 : 06:29:37
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quote:
Originally posted by bife
Bring on those Aussies, we'll show those weedy ex-cons who the boss is.
Consider us shown. |
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Chris C 
"Four words, never backwards."
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Posted - 10/07/2007 : 11:15:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
Quarter finals:
Australia - England: Aus to give us a good slapping. Unfortunately.
New Zealand - France: All Blacks to give the cheese-eating surrender monkeys the beating they deserve.
South Africa - Fiji: Fiji to give the Boks a hard time in the first half and then fade and lose.
Argentina - Scotland: Argentina will make it a pair of all-southern-hemisphere semifinals, which would mean Aus vs NZ and SA vs Arg.
0 for 2 so far. |
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Koli
"Striving lackadaisically for perfection."
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Posted - 10/07/2007 : 11:59:56
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Well I'm glad I didn't post any predictions for the quarter finals...
The England victory was a bit of a turn up. I certainly didn't expect it.
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Edited by - Koli on 10/13/2007 23:39:40 |
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Rovark
"Luck-pushing, rule-bending, chance-taking reviewer"
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Posted - 10/07/2007 : 12:14:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
Quarter finals:
Australia - England: Aus to give us a good slapping. Unfortunately.
New Zealand - France: All Blacks to give the cheese-eating surrender monkeys the beating they deserve.
South Africa - Fiji: Fiji to give the Boks a hard time in the first half and then fade and lose.
Argentina - Scotland: Argentina will make it a pair of all-southern-hemisphere semifinals, which would mean Aus vs NZ and SA vs Arg.
0 for 2 so far.
I had every confidence that England would compete with Australia and make them play, but damn, on the first 20 minutes I thought England could go all the way and retain the championship. Once the Aussies realised that England had come to give them a game they came back and there was always that risk of a try on the break. Thankfully England didn't just sit back and defend but kept coming forward. Great game.
NZ - France. Didn't see that coming, even in Paris I wouldn't have expected this result but on neutral territory. whew.
I still think you're spot on for your last 2 predictions though Chris
Fiji will pound SA and may even take the lead, but SA will just keep coming and will win fairly compresensively. Hopefully they take enough (not too serious) injuries to give England (with any luck) a chance in the final.
I think Scotland - Argentina is gonna be close and may well come down to the kicking game. Still, I'd go for Argentina as being more likely to score tries and if they don't give away penalties right in front of the sticks, I think they'll take the Scots.
I'd love to be as wrong about these 2 as I was for the first 2 though.
Man, England - France, and Scotland - Fiji semi's.
No idea what the bookies are saying, but SA have now got to be hot favorites to take the championship
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Chris C
"Four words, never backwards."
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Posted - 10/07/2007 : 17:41:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
Quarter finals:
Australia - England: Aus to give us a good slapping. Unfortunately.
New Zealand - France: All Blacks to give the cheese-eating surrender monkeys the beating they deserve.
South Africa - Fiji: Fiji to give the Boks a hard time in the first half and then fade and lose.
Argentina - Scotland: Argentina will make it a pair of all-southern-hemisphere semifinals, which would mean Aus vs NZ and SA vs Arg.
0 for 2 so far.
1 for 3 - that's better. Who's ready for an England - Scotland final?
Rumour has it (from BBC Radio 5) that the Wallabies had no travel plans sorted to get back home in the event that they lost to England. It now seems that they are travelling to London today, staying overnight, and flying out of Heathrow on Monday.
Maybe the All Blacks could have done them a favour and dropped them off on their way home.  |
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Shiv 
"What a Wonderful World"
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Posted - 10/07/2007 : 23:43:30
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Chris C 2-2
South Africa-Argentina. That'll be an interesting one. Having seen South Africa play now, I think that it'll be a match up in the scrums and line outs. South Africa would make better use of Argentina's mistakes in losing the ball in the breakdown, or when they kick it loose than Scotland did. I also think Argentina might get some nerves - first time in a semi.
I think France will have home side advantage and that might take them over the line with England. But it'll be close if they both play their defensive game.
My prediction is France-South Africa in the final. |
Edited by - Shiv on 10/07/2007 23:44:47 |
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Sean 
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 10/11/2007 : 23:26:52
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Latest news from the World Cup:-
England meet France in the first semi-final.
South Africa meet Argentina in the second semi-final.
Australia meet New Zealand at the airport. |
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Sal[Au]pian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 10/13/2007 : 21:49:51
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England 14-9 France    |
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Sal[Au]pian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 10/13/2007 : 21:51:09
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| There's a lot of celebrating going on here on Charing X Road. I'm going to go round the corner and see if the Trafalgar Square fountains are getting some usage in a bit... |
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Koli
"Striving lackadaisically for perfection."
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Posted - 10/13/2007 : 23:30:02
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I just don't believe it.
I can't believe it.
I just don't...
believe it.
believe it.
Believe it.
Back in the final, after that dismal performance against South Africa. Extraordinary.  |
Edited by - Koli on 10/13/2007 23:41:11 |
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Koli
"Striving lackadaisically for perfection."
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Posted - 10/13/2007 : 23:34:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Shiv
Chris C 2-2
South Africa-Argentina. That'll be an interesting one. Having seen South Africa play now, I think that it'll be a match up in the scrums and line outs. South Africa would make better use of Argentina's mistakes in losing the ball in the breakdown, or when they kick it loose than Scotland did. I also think Argentina might get some nerves - first time in a semi.
I think France will have home side advantage and that might take them over the line with England. But it'll be close if they both play their defensive game.
My prediction is France-South Africa in the final.
You were right about the closeness, Shiv. It was only made safe in the last five minutes when, all of a sudden, only a try would do for France. As one of the commentators said on telly, all the talent in the French side wasn't enough to get them past the grit, determination and organisation of the England side.
I also think you're right about the other finalist. South Africa surely have the ability and strength to beat Argentina. |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 10/13/2007 : 23:47:32
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I think it shows the absolute importance of pressure on success (or the lack of it). NZ couldn't beat France as they absolutely HAD to beat France, losing was unacceptable - hence they crumbled under the pressure and France had nothing to lose as they'd been written off. Aus couldn't beat Eng as Eng were so useless and quite incapable of winning, hence the Aus victory was a certainty and losing would have been a disgrace - hence Aus crumbled under the pressure.
And of course everyone wrote off England a long time ago, so were quite capable of playing well under the total absence of pressure. In fact they're almost in the box seat now, imagine the pressure on SA now (assuming they make the final), it will be considered unacceptable for them to lose to Eng in the final as their whole country sees them as simply a better team.
Going into a major tournament as the underdog is a good thing. Being the favourite is a total pain in the arse, it's quite destructive in fact.  Actually, I think NZ has no hope of winning the 2011 WC, the pressure will be even greater as it's a home tournament. Kiwis will regard losing the next one as utterly unacceptable. I bet the pressure is already piling up on the NZRU to do something, anything to guarantee a win - four years ahead - which will make it impossible. The ABs in a crucial match four years from now will be playing like scared rabbits in the headlights, as four years of pressure comes to the fore and totally destroys them. I think few people are ever capable of handling the ludicrous pressure that the ABs are under, and they have names like Churchill, Eisenhower, Lincoln etc, none of whom are twenty-something Kiwi blokes who like to play rugby.
Oh yeah, and I bet that the next time the ABs play whoever it is who wins this WC, they whip their arses.  Unless it's in the rarified air of Jo'burg of course. |
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Shiv
"What a Wonderful World"
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Posted - 10/14/2007 : 21:50:07
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Yes, I have no doubt NZ will beat everyone they come up against this year!
I've been up at 2am the last two mornings to watch the games. Just finished watching the Pumas and Sprinkboks. The Sprinboks capitalised on the errors to score those 4 tries. But I think England won't make it so easy for them. They also have Johnny Wilkinson. England play to give him the opportunities. The Sprinboks looked shaky in the scrums and the lineouts. I think The Pumas summumbed to the occasion - first time in a semi-final etc. But like Koli says, England don't have anything to lose, having got the final against all predictions. And they'll be out to prove the previous loss against SA was just a blip on the radar.
Roll on next weekend! |
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Shiv
"What a Wonderful World"
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Posted - 10/14/2007 : 21:51:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
Latest news from the World Cup:-
England meet France in the first semi-final.
South Africa meet Argentina in the second semi-final.
Australia meet New Zealand at the airport.
Which team was laughing the loudest? |
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Sal[Au]pian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 10/20/2007 : 17:58:31
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| The match unfortunately isn't being shown in Trafalgar Square because of Eid. When I arrived in town at about five, there was a queue going all the way down the street to get into the Sports Bar on Haymarket. So not sure where I'm going to watch it. Will be quite annoying if I have to give up and just go home to watch it there. |
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Rugby World Cup
