RWC 2019 Draw

[Twist]

Only 6 days to the draw, thought it was time for speculation/catastrophising/wishing

Band 1

New Zealand
England
Australia
Ireland

Band 2

Scotland
France
South Africa
Wales

Band 3

Argentina
Japan
Georgia
Italy

Despite being top seeds there's potential for a really tough draw there with Argentina in Band 3.


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[Sionnach]

Is it possible to get something like Ireland, South Africa, Argentina and Tonga? That could make life tough.

[CiaranIrl]

Is it possible to get something like Ireland, South Africa, Argentina and Tonga? That could make life tough.

It sure is. I don't really mind too much about whichever tier 2 we get. Obviously some are preferable - Scotland, say - but the real issue is avoiding the Argies.

[simonokeeffe]

The timing/order of he fixtures is as important as anything else

South Africa probably second weakest team in band 2 and have savage transformation targets amongst other issues

Fiji in band 4 only team in 4 or 5 to take seriously

[Ruckedtobits]

Pool Draw tomorrow in Tokyo. Some new teams sticking their heads up in qualifiers thus far but a distance to go yet.

[offshorerules]

We got Scotland and Japan.

[Twist]

Group C

England
France
Argentina

Lawks! [FLUSHED FACE]


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[olaf the fat]

Scotland and Japan, not to bad - two hard games but we should/could win both - Auz & wales get the peach of a group

England group is a bitch - try getting through that with a full hand of players.

[Dexter]

Scotland and Japan, not to bad - two hard games but we should/could win both - Auz & wales get the peach of a group

England group is a bitch - try getting through that with a full hand of players.

The next question is: how do the knock out games work. Is it AvB and CvD?

[Twist]

Scotland and Japan, not to bad - two hard games but we should/could win both - Auz & wales get the peach of a group

England group is a bitch - try getting through that with a full hand of players.

The next question is: how do the knock out games work. Is it AvB and CvD?

Yeah, any QF against a team from B or C would be very tough. Or D.


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[Dexter]

Scotland and Japan, not to bad - two hard games but we should/could win both - Auz & wales get the peach of a group

England group is a bitch - try getting through that with a full hand of players.

The next question is: how do the knock out games work. Is it AvB and CvD?

Yeah, any QF against a team from B or C would be very tough. Or D.


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And maybe some would be tougher than others, if you didn't win your group... smartass!!

[blockhead]

For once, not a bad draw!
Altough Japan and Scotland will be thinking the exact same thing.

[Twist]

The next question is: how do the knock out games work. Is it AvB and CvD?

Yeah, any QF against a team from B or C would be very tough. Or D.


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And maybe some would be tougher than others, if you didn't win your group... smartass!!

I wasn't even being sarcastic for once! I was just looking at the list and it gradually dawned on me that any of NZ, SA, Eng, Fra, Arg, Wal or Aus would be happy enough to get us in the QF! We're gonna have to get through one of those


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[TrapperChamonix]

Having Scotland in our group eliminates the possibility of meeting them in the 2nd round, so its not an advantage to be in same group as them. The good news is that we avoided Argentina, Samoa and Fiji. France and SA loom large in the 2nd round

[Dexter]

Yeah, any QF against a team from B or C would be very tough. Or D.


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And maybe some would be tougher than others, if you didn't win your group... smartass!!

I wasn't even being sarcastic for once! I was just looking at the list and it gradually dawned on me that any of NZ, SA, Eng, Fra, Arg, Wal or Aus would be happy enough to get us in the QF! We're gonna have to get through one of those


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True enough. The "easier" QFs in the last two tournaments didn't work out so well!

[offshorerules]

Hard to see an easy quarter final out of that draw to be fair. And if there is a 'shock' like Japan/SA last time you could end up facing someone very nasty indeed. Still its about time Ireland got an easier draw.

[matt]

NZ or South Africa if we get to Quarter Final

[johng]

I seem to remember A played B and C played D last time.

Means we should be looking to top our group and avoid the kiwis. South Africa may be in a mess but not enough of one to lose to Italy..... Again

[CiaranIrl]

Yeah, its A vs B. If the groups go according to favourites winning the group, then we'll likely have South Africa in the QF followed by Aus in any potential Semi Final.

The final two teams in our group are almost certainly Romania and Tonga. It's fantastic to have a group like this. We're much more likely to get out of the group without the debilitating injury list and fatigue. Gives us every chance to win a QF for the first time, and if we do that, then anything is possible. If South Africa continue with their enforced black/white selection criteria, then they won't be the force they once were.

[Twist]

Looking at the other groups, likely QFs are England v. Wales and Australia v. Argentina/France. That'll be fun


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