2019 RWC - Squads
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@ACT-Crusader said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Billy-Tell said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Wurzel said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Billy-Tell said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Crucial said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
Predictions time:
Pool game 'Key Games'
- Australia bt Wales
- France bt Arg
- NZ bt SA
Pool other 'upsets'
- Japan bt Scotland
- Canada bt Italy
Quarters
SA bt Ireland
NZ bt Japan
France bt Aus
Wales bt England (wishful thinking)Semis
SA bt France
NZ bt WalesFinal
I'm not going to predict because I'm a wuss
Canada beat Italy?!
Canada would be lucky to beat a NZ schools 1st XV - they have totally and utterly regressed. I wouldn't even be surprised if Namibia beat Canada. TBH, the RWC pools got thrown out of sync by the Spain/Germany/another country which escapes me (?Romania) being disqualified for fielding 1 or 2 ineligible players.
They won't beat Namibia. They're terrible currently.
Russian and Canada are going to stink up this RWC after the last two tournaments have seen the margin of victory over minnows get smaller and smaller.
The RWC is always 4 teams shy of being a reasonably competitive 20
4N
6N
Pacific Islands
Japan
Georgia
USANamibia
Canada
Uruguay
RussiaThe best hope for the future is probably that sides like Germany and Spain get stronger. Canada's demise is a mystery - they've produced a couple of very good players down thru the years, not least DTH van der Merwe, who at his peak was an excellent winger (although he was a SA import if I'm honest).
I’m not sure how competitive Tonga and Samoa are going to be at this WC.
More competitive than Namibia, Canada, Uruguay or Russia.
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@Derm-McCrum said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@mofitzy_ said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Daffy-Jaffy
Thought this was very interesting from the Vice-Chairman of World Rugby, Gus Pichot:Doesn't specifically refer to Jean Kleyn but given his stance on residency I'd assume that's what he is referring to.
Hopefully, Dev’s answer to toerag Pichot is:
F**k you, you miserable ambulance-chasing, shit-stirrer.Pichot is never really on the Xmas card list of Irish Rugby fans! He's properly despised. Which is rather ironic I find, given any Irish fan worth his salt will have accused NZ of pillaging the "South Sea Islands".
It would be one thing if Toner had missed out to Eben Ezebeth. It's another when it's Jean Kleyn, who not only hasn't really stood out for Munster IMHO, but was also anonymous in his 2 Irish appearances to date. So he's put himself a bit offside with Leinster fans, not to mention choosing McGrath over Marmion, which Connacht fans are not a bit too happy about.
I'll be interested to see how Ireland perform this weekend v Wales - Schmidt's last home game in charge.
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@ACT-Crusader said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Billy-Tell said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Wurzel said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Billy-Tell said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Crucial said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
Predictions time:
Pool game 'Key Games'
- Australia bt Wales
- France bt Arg
- NZ bt SA
Pool other 'upsets'
- Japan bt Scotland
- Canada bt Italy
Quarters
SA bt Ireland
NZ bt Japan
France bt Aus
Wales bt England (wishful thinking)Semis
SA bt France
NZ bt WalesFinal
I'm not going to predict because I'm a wussCanada beat Italy?!
Canada would be lucky to beat a NZ schools 1st XV - they have totally and utterly regressed. I wouldn't even be surprised if Namibia beat Canada. TBH, the RWC pools got thrown out of sync by the Spain/Germany/another country which escapes me (?Romania) being disqualified for fielding 1 or 2 ineligible players.
They won't beat Namibia. They're terrible currently.
Russian and Canada are going to stink up this RWC after the last two tournaments have seen the margin of victory over minnows get smaller and smaller.
The RWC is always 4 teams shy of being a reasonably competitive 20
4N
6N
Pacific Islands
Japan
Georgia
USANamibia
Canada
Uruguay
RussiaThe best hope for the future is probably that sides like Germany and Spain get stronger. Canada's demise is a mystery - they've produced a couple of very good players down thru the years, not least DTH van der Merwe, who at his peak was an excellent winger (although he was a SA import if I'm honest).
I’m not sure how competitive Tonga and Samoa are going to be at this WC.
They'll be fine.
There's definitely a good team within the Tongan squad, expect them both to get better the longer they are in camp.
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@Billy-Tell said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Derm-McCrum said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@mofitzy_ said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Daffy-Jaffy
Thought this was very interesting from the Vice-Chairman of World Rugby, Gus Pichot:Doesn't specifically refer to Jean Kleyn but given his stance on residency I'd assume that's what he is referring to.
Hopefully, Dev’s answer to toerag Pichot is:
F**k you, you miserable ambulance-chasing, shit-stirrer.Pichot is never really on the Xmas card list of Irish Rugby fans! He's properly despised. Which is rather ironic I find, given any Irish fan worth his salt will have accused NZ of pillaging the "South Sea Islands".
It would be one thing if Toner had missed out to Eben Ezebeth. It's another when it's Jean Kleyn, who not only hasn't really stood out for Munster IMHO, but was also anonymous in his 2 Irish appearances to date. So he's put himself a bit offside with Leinster fans, not to mention choosing McGrath over Marmion, which Connacht fans are not a bit too happy about.
I'll be interested to see how Ireland perform this weekend v Wales - Schmidt's last home game in charge.
It will be interesting. Schmidt to finish his time at Landsdowne Road as coach of number 1 ranked team in world rugby. Pillaging, schmillaging.
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@Derm-McCrum nah not quite, he's finished and rankings don't come into effect until Monday 😜
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James Lowe speaking truth!
Lowe said he would give his "absolute best" for Ireland if selected but is clearly somewhat conflicted by the possibility.
"If I look at it, it's a stupid [eligibility] rule, isn't it?" Lowe said with refreshing candour. "Like … I could dig myself a big hole here, obviously.
"I would love to play international rugby, don't get me wrong. And it would be such a privilege — such an honour — to represent Ireland. That would be awesome.
"Obviously, we've still got a long way to see if that's going to happen.
"But it's a weird rule, eh? Like, three years? It's [moving] up to five which is probably more reasonable in a way. But it's weird that I could be Irish, isn't it? Like, it is weird."
AMEN!
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The last squad named - USA -
Forwards: David Ainu’u, Malon Al-Jiboori, Nate Brakeley, Nick Civetta, Cam Dolan, Dylan Fawsitt, Eric Fry, Hanco Germishuys, James Hilterbrand, Olive Kilifi, Tony Lamborn, Titi Lamositele, Ben Landry, Paul Mullen, Gregory Peterson, Ben Pinkelman, John Quill, Joseph Taufete’e
Backs: Blaine Scully (c), Nate Augspurger, Marcel Brache, Bryce Campbell, Shaun Davies, Ruben De Haas, Will Hooley, Martin Iosefo, Paul Lasike, AJ MacGinty, Will Magie, Thretton Palamo, Mike Te’o
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@Snowy said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
@Chris-B said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
James Lowe speaking truth!
So many J Lo fanciers.
The Hawke's Bay guys all over Jonah, now the Irish for James. Jennifer hardly gets any recognition at all.
she fucking does from me!
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@Daffy-Jaffy As well as multiple seasons at Northcote.
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From BBC rugby-
Danny Care questions level of 'loyalty' after being left out by England:-
Scrum-half Danny Care says selecting players for international teams on the basis of their residency or relations will inevitably breed resentment.Willi Heinz, who has an English grandmother but was born and raised in New Zealand, was picked ahead of Care in England's World Cup squad.
"Players are just pawns. You look at it and is there much loyalty in it? Maybe not," he told Rugby Union Weekly.
"Some are given an easier route than those who worked a fair bit harder."
Care, 32, has won 84 England caps, but only one of those has come at a World Cup. He was ruled out of the 2011 tournament with a toe injury and was third-choice scrum-half in 2015, making a solitary appearance in England's 60-3 dead-rubber win over Uruguay.
He says that he holds no hard feelings towards Heinz, who moved to Gloucester in 2015 from Canterbury-based Crusaders, but believes the current eligibility rules are unfair.
Second row Devin Toner was overlooked for Ireland's World Cup squad in favour of South Africa-born Jean Kleyn, who served out the required three-year residency period in August.
"I started playing rugby at five in England, dreamed of playing for my country in a World Cup," continued Care."You do all the hard work, you stay in England, don't look to play for a club abroad to make more money because you want to play for England and win a World Cup - now that is not going to happen.
"A lot of players who have done well for whatever country and it comes to the World Cup, the pinnacle, where you hope that loyalty and hard work is paid back and it is taken away from you. That is the disappointment. That is why is hurts so much."
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Here's your ammo for when those northerners want to accost you about NZ poaching from the islands.
Number of Foreign-born Players per Country -
19 Samoa
16 Tonga
15 USA
14 Japan, Scotland
12 Australia
8 Italy, Wales
6 England
5 France
4 Canada, Fiji, Ireland
3 New Zealand
1 Georgia, Russia South Africa
0 Argentina, Namibia, UruguayThe Main Donors -
48 New Zealand
18 England
13 Australia, South Africa
8 Tonga
7 Fiji
6 Ireland -
@Daffy-Jaffy said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
Here's your ammo for when those northerners want to accost you about NZ poaching from the islands.
Number of Foreign-born Players per Country -
19 Samoa
16 Tonga
15 USA
14 Japan, Scotland
12 Australia
8 Italy, Wales
7 England
5 France
4 Canada, Fiji, Ireland, New Zealand
1 Georgia, Russia South Africa
0 Argentina, Namibia, UruguayThe Main Donors -
48 New Zealand
18 England
13 Australia, South Africa
8 Tonga
7 Fiji
6 IrelandThose numbers differ slightly from this list:
Foreign-Born / Raised Players at RWC 2019 - Americas Rugby News
20 teams will compete at RWC 2019 in Japan. Of them 17 have selected players from other countries. How then did they come to qualify for the country they are representing? The following article is aimed at explaining who they are and how they qualify. It is not an opinion piece but instead sets out...
Close enough though.
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@mofitzy_ Interesting, I picked that list from a Rugby 365 article. Your links info looks more thoroughly detailed and researched though so may be more accurate.
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@Daffy-Jaffy
Stargazer posted it in the eligibility thread.Agree that it seems well researched - though a quick look at wiki shows Nepo's younger brother (by 3 years) Luteru was born in NZ, which should have made him eligible by 99 if Nepo was also in NZ at the time. Don't know the family history though.
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@mofitzy_ I just edited a couple of the numbers from the 365 article list that were wrong including for NZ which listed Vaia Fifita as one and also had Fogapoa Savai’i, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in the England squad - so not so well researched then! lol.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in 2019 RWC - Squads:
Here's your ammo for when those northerners want to accost you about NZ poaching from the islands.
Number of Foreign-born Players per Country -
19 Samoa
16 Tonga
15 USA
14 Japan, Scotland
12 Australia
8 Italy, Wales
6 England
5 France
4 Canada, Fiji, Ireland
3 New Zealand
1 Georgia, Russia South Africa
0 Argentina, Namibia, UruguayThe Main Donors -
48 New Zealand
18 England
13 Australia, South Africa
8 Tonga
7 Fiji
6 IrelandNah, nah, not listening, NZ pillage and rape the Islands, not listening, don't mention Vunipola, Tualagi and Aki, NZ pillage and rape the Islands, nah nah, not listening
