so who's going to win the rugby world cup this year?
 

any rugby fans in here? who do you think will win the world cup? im definitely going for the all blacks. this time, they are going to the top!

All Blacks

South Africa

All Blacks

Get real, Batman. Joost is in the side. That alone signifies failure.

I think its between the All Blacks (Or make that the Blues + Jona Luma) :) and England.

or shall we just make that the Crusaders ;)

I havent seen your squad yet, but as formidable as the Crusaders' pack is, I'd rather put my money on the Blues' backline. In a strength v Strength contests with England, the Crusaders' pack will lose out. The Blues showed everyone how to play them. England would have taken note. And with little johnny there for place kicking.......lets just say I'd rather bet on Dougie Howlett & co.

France

hahaha! now that is humour! ;)

Hey where does it say on the thread title: Excluding The Wallabies? They're clearly the favorites and they'll clearly win.
Go Aussies!

My compatriot thebatman started it when he mentioned us as a possible winner. At the moment we are world number 5 and it hurts.

"kin convict rugby league converts and imports. ;)

England possibly (hate to say it though).
France I believe will be up there. The 6 Nations was a practice for them, trying out different players. Come World Cup time, they'll be up for it and probably on form.
Obviously I want Ireland to win, but I can't see that happening because England are too good as are New Zealand.
I do think New Zealand will win it though.

WALLABIES!!!

actually, jmf1234 - Australia is nowhere near being fav in this world cup. we've got about 10 wallabies on the injuries list, and recently we lost to both the All Blacks and the Poms, meaning that they're favoured above us...

however, i think that eddie jones has quite a few tricks and surprises up his sleeve for this september.

anyway, back to the question - my money is on an England vs New Zealand final... and a New Zealand win... with the Aussies as a outside pick.

i'd hate to see the cup go to the northern hemisphere!

All Blacks and England would be my leading picks. South African rugby is in danger of treading the downward spiral the Welsh have; the Wallabies look to be in the kind of slump that hit New Zealand in 90/91 and 97-99, with experienced, quality players leaving and no ready replacements.

It's a tough one. Before I start I must mention that am English and suffer from some element of bias.

There are 4 teams that can win it, England, Australia, New Zealand, and France. England are currently the world's best but to put it bluntly we are not that great away from home. Australia as hosts have to be favourates a great side and couple that with the fact that we only just beat them at twickenham, a lot will depend on that 'orrible George Smith (he is a bit good). New Zealand, well again England only beat them in a very tight game, they are always strong and will potentially make the final. This is the one I hate to say, France, they have the power of the northern hemisphere and the flair of the southern hemisphere. Fair enough they were rubbish in the 6 nations but the French will be there for the world cup. Just look at the 2 teams in the final of the Heineken cup (european cup), both french (although one would prefer to be catalan).

Outsiders: Ireland. Great season and with the pace of O'Driscol and the emergence of Geordan Murphy at full back they could indeed surprise a few.

No Hope: South Africa, they are in utter turmoil, lacking players in a lot of positions. Especially number 10, they only just managed to beat scotland at the weekend.

Gah that should have been an all Irish Heineken Cup final. And then Leinster would have beaten Munster on account of the final being in Lansdowne Road. er, and because they are better too. :)

All Blacks

I don't see why not, but the upcoming test with England will be crucial imo. If the ABs lose, Mitchell better shake up the squad in time for the World Cup.

Once again the English win a couple of games and proclaim to be the best. To even be considered the best in the world you have to have beaten everyone, everywhere. There are only two teams that have consistently done that of late: the Wallabies and the All Blacks. Sure, you beat us at Twickenham, but when was the last time you beat us below the Equator? (actually, i'm interested to know that, it might be not as far back as i thought...)

Don't get me wrong, England is a fantastic side, but too much seems to rely on the boot of Wilkinson. To beat Southern Hemisphere sides, you have to play strongly through the backs, and i'm not sure England can do that. It's true in the past they've won against SH powerhouses, but most have been in try-less shootouts, and that type of rugby is rarely seen in World Cups...

The Kiwis are the one's to beat. Jonah is a big loss, but they have an army to pick from with easily the best 4 club sides in the world.

The Wallabies will be up there also, as well as France, but surely the Kiwis would have to start favourites. It would be a dark day for us Aussies if the All Blacks won the cup on our soil!

Whoever wins, it will be the best tournament ever, that's for sure...

id love to say england but i think they've gone too old in the pack, neil back and dorian west etc should give way i think the all blacks, the NZ teams were great in super 12 this year it just looks like they've got so much depth i think they've got to win

The English are great at Twickers but the world cup isn't played there is it?

Oh and about the poll. I think it should have been a straight pick between tri nations and six nations. and then europen cup and super 12. Club rugby is not the same as international even though, as Meridae'n pointed out, the sides mention would tonk some NH national sides.

The same could be said for most sports.
Clubs will usually be better than international teams. Exception probably being the NBA.

That's an interesting theory Eiresol, but not one i agree with. The old adage "A champion team will always beat a team of champions" sure is romantic, but it's complete horseshit.

Ireland are my dark horse, failing that, I would really like to see someone embarrass England.

I think England will do a pretty good job at that!

Unfortunately, i'm only joking...

after seeing england playing such boring spoiling tactics on the weekend, i really hope someone takes them down.

i fear that won't be the wallabies this saturday, though. Flatley has just been ruled out, and that makes about 11-12 on the injured or not available list. even though we beat the welsh pretty easily, they're only the welsh, and we lacked intensity.

england only just beat the all blacks, who were not playing well at all! umaga had a shocker of a game, and even the Haka was poor. carlos spencer was seriously good, even though he should have run the backs more.

england, annoying as always played a rushed defense and spoiling game that should give an indication of what to expect for the rest of the year.

i think that south africa put up a much better show than expected against the scots. maybe we shouldn't be counting them out of the world cup after all...

well, after a seriously important weekend, thats the major 4 teams.

my pick for bill is still the all blacks, with much more game experience after the tri nations. england in the final, but hopefully being thrashed there, or earlier. wallabies as an outside pick, also after a good tri nations build up.

I was a bit worried about who was lining opposite Wilkinson on Saturday night, but Nathan Grey is the man for the job. He is probably the hardest back to have played for Aust. in the last five years - runs like a train and has a reputation for smashing blokes in tackles. Probably the ideal man opposite Wilkinson, who needs to be put under pressure. Injuries have kept him low for the past couple of seasons, but fittness has bought him a new lease on his career. The only thing is he's never started a Test at 5/8...

i just wanna see Grezy (coz heś crazy) absolutely polax wilkinson.
i think with Greyt at 5/8 this should be an interesting match. the poms are using a spoiling defense at the breakdown, which confused the All Blacks, but with Grey theyĺl probably just smash it up the centre.
hope its a great game tonight.

England - no debate :)

well, last night was a wee bit disappointing.

i could think of a few excuses... like our season only starting, many injured wallabies, England peaking too early... but the fact is, England beat us like we used to beat them.

Wallabies were ok, that was by far their best form so far this year, but England were too good. and they didn't play that boring spoiling defense like they did against NZ.

i'd love to know what was going on between Mat Rogers and Josh Lewsey... that hit he got on Rogers was absolutely massive. he'd probably lined him up for a long time, and then absolutely polaxed him.

oh well, there are still a few months to improve so we can beat the Poms when it counts. hehe.

and about NZ thrashing Wales, that was revenge.

The Wallabies will win.

They would have won last weekend in Melbourne had the crowd of 55,000 known more about the sport than it is played with a ball of similar shape to an Australian Rules Football!!!!

If you have ever been to "Telstra Dome" in Melbourne during an AFL game there is no risk of nodding off to sleep - the acoustics in there make for a fantastic atmosphere - on Saturday night the crowd was too busy trying to work out why everyone was throwing the ball backwards to voice their support for the Aussies.

Come World Cup and the Aussies playing in front of their REAL home crowd in Sydney, they will beat England (and everyone else, but that's a given!).

I reckon it's a toss up between the 3 Southern hemisphere teams and England. The poms are in great form right now, but you can't rule out Australia or New Zealand - I must admit I haven't been keeping that up to date with rugby right now though - I'm an Aussie Rules man myself (though I enjoy all sports and follow them all to some degree)

This ain't 1995. Jonah is extremely doubtful to play and the team doesn't seem to have the bias that it has had in recent years (mostly Crusaders etc).

England do rely too heavily on Wilkinson I think. Boooring rugby. :)

Maybe in the past i'd have agreed with you but after the way we thrashed you Wallabies on your home patch , no way .

And we did it with a malfunctioning Wilkinson to boot !:)

England clear favourites with France to make it an all northern hemisphere final .

the wallabies are going to make it 2 in a row and become the 1st team to win 3 world cups

Rrrrigghhttt, because getting thumped by New Zealand twice CLEARLY means they're going to win the RWC. /sarcasm.

Oh, btw, Blacks rated as number one in world cuz the dumb pommies sent their B Squad to Canada when they said they were bringing their A Squad, and they lost to France. All Blacks vs. England in the final, All Blacks get revenge. dustbuster, England can't play France in the final because the way the pools are set up, they'll prolly play each other in the quarter final tho.

England should face France in the semis. If everything goes to form.

As for the rankings depends on who you look at. The IRB rankings rate England 1st, NZ 2nd, and Ireland 3rd. Australia are ranked 4th. Mainly due to the shoeing NZ gave them and their loss to England http://www.irb.com/rankings/index.cfm

Wow, USA is ranked 14th, not bad, not bad at all.

England are clearly overrated.

The All Blacks shown they can be very lethal once the two wingers (Douggie and Rock'em-Sock'em) find space and get some momentum.

As long as the ABs don't play conservative (like they did against England) they should have no problems advancing in the tournament.