Bienvenue sur le fil de la coupe du monde de rugby!

So - it all kicks off tomorrow!!

So where are peoples alliances and thoughts on who will win what? Here's my opening weekend predictions, winner bold red.

Pool A
Fri 8 Sept France v New Zealand (8.15pm, Stade de France, Paris)
Sat 9 Sept Italy v Namibia (noon, Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Étienne)

Pool B
Sat 9 Sept Ireland v Romania (2.30pm, Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)
Sun 10 Sept South Africa v Scotland (4.45pm, Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)

Pool C
Sat 9 Sept Australia v Georgia (5pm, Stade de France, Paris)
Sun 10 Sept Wales v Fiji (8pm, Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)

Pool D
Sat 9 Sept England v Argentina (8pm, Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
Sun 10 Sept Japan v Chile (noon, Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse)

Some belting first round matches - I can see the French hitting New Zealand hard, but it will be close, I fancy South Africa A.....sorry, Scotland to be a surprise winner against SA and I'm sorry I can't see England doing a job on Argentina who ran SA close and beat Australia in July

Wales are in deep danger with Fiji - but given their recent injury issues I can see us doing a job.

 

Oooh, la la!

 

Si.

 

Que?

 

SA tend to start a little slow - and Scotland play some brilliant rugby and literally have nothing to lose!

 

I agree with all your predictions except I can't see anyone beating the Springboks.

 

Ireland to be crowned world Champions! Shoulder to shoulder.

Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk

 

Ireland do seem to have the boks number - the pool game will be interesting - I think this is going to be a tournament of whose squad stays most intact more so for Ireland than anyone else.

Argentina are the dark horses for me - they have no issue with coping with the bok firepower, in fact them and France are the only ones who can cope directly with it, and France only managed it last Autumn as SA had a player red carded.

 

The worst sort of pre season!

 

Le blu

 

Can't wait for tonight's game. Should be a belter.

 

Didn’t watch the opening ceremony but the local paper said this about it:

Then French President Emmanuel Macron was booed loudly by the crowd during his speech as he officially opened the World Cup.

The show was directed by Olivier Ferracci and stage director Nora Matthey de L’Endroit with the help of more than 200 volunteers and Academy Award-winning actor Jean Dujardin also starred as the main character - the man with the bread and the bike, not the annoying cockerel. After the strange ceremony, where the cockerel man appeared to crowd surf and the Eiffel Tower popped up in the middle of the pitch, there was a speech by Bill Beaumont, the Chairperson of World Rugby, which the crowd sang loudly over, paying him very little attention.


^^ this sounds right up my street, might go back and watch it in playback.

 

The best that the chief pundit could say about the opening ceremony was 'very interesting, very French'. You didn't miss much, I would forget about the playback.

 

I was always coached that it was a game where the objective was to play only in the spirit of the laws, until you got caught aka cheat.

Analysis, too much referee intervention and bollicking about with the laws has ruined the game.

Ban the jackal or bring back proper rucking or the game dies as a spectacle.

 

Is it turning into Rugby League?