Who do you think will win the Rugby World Cup 2023?
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Ireland win the final but get stripped of the title because five of their players test positive for PEDs ...
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Dearie me. I haven't read such dire love for Ireland since Bundee Aki decided to go house shopping in Galway.
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@Derm-McCrum Speaking for myself, Sexton is the fucking worst. Everyone else Irish I'm fine with them winning, but I really want that fluffybunny to fail.
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I think France, but those backing Ireland because they don't get many cards is a good bet. I think this is likely to have an impact throughout the tournament (it may even have an impact in pool play)
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I'm picking South Africa. The way they dismantled us the other day was impressive, and the fact they now are able to fit the best hooker in the world into their starting side will take them up a notch in the crunch games.
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I'm predicting 2011 and the ABs win.
I reckon Ireland get done in the quarters.
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@mariner4life said in Who do you think will win the Rugby World Cup 2023?:
I've said South Africa all along, because the style they play is perfect for tournament rugby. They are so very comfortable in the pressure and grind of knockout rugby, but they actually have the outside backs to take advantage of the few opportunities that come your way.
One drawback of the way the Boks play is that it is no mystery and all other contenders will have had 5 years to come up with a plan to stifle them. The advantage the Boks have is that the very same drawback means that they are best placed out of all the major contenders to execute when it counts - they will be simply trying to do what they have always done and what is second nature to them. That counts for a lot in these tournaments and is why "cohesion" is so tightly correlated with success.
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the boks are really interesting. Having pretty much two packs playing every game means any forward injury should be pretty easy to cover with a quality experienced replacement. not so in the backs though, a few injuries there and they will start to look a bit thin. may not happen, may not matter - Libbok has gone well so far when I kinda expected them to go to shit a bit without Pollard so what would I know.
as much as i dislike the way rugby has turned everyone into giants with so many subs, if that has to be the case then I do like that one team has used quite a distinct game plan to take advantage of it - the risk vs reward equation looks pretty decent for them right now. -
Played golf today with a society - all English.
They all think the World Cup is between France and NZ. Think SA will fall over & nobody even talked about Ireland.
Mixed views on England but many thought out in pool stage. Nobody has them in the final. Consensus would be NZ will play their way into the tournament, SA won’t and England result vs Fiji is about where they are.
The Ireland thing still baffles me.
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@MajorRage said in Who do you think will win the Rugby World Cup 2023?:
Played golf today with a society - all English.
They all think the World Cup is between France and NZ. Think SA will fall over & nobody even talked about Ireland.
Mixed views on England but many thought out in pool stage. Nobody has them in the final. Consensus would be NZ will play their way into the tournament, SA won’t and England result vs Fiji is about where they are.
The Ireland thing still baffles me.
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The only one talking about Ireland winning the World Cup is Andy Farrell - he actually said that's what we're here for, isn't it?
I'm shocked and embarrassed.
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For the last couple of years I’ve thought France are the team but now it’s here I’m not sure anymore , just a feeling they peaked a little while back , we find out soon I guess .
If I had to pick a side now, it’s probably the boks but don’t want them to get 4 cups before us .
Ireland certainly good enough , if they get past the quarter fully capable of going all the way .
Us , who bloody knows .
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@Derm-McCrum said in Who do you think will win the Rugby World Cup 2023?:
The only one talking about Ireland winning the World Cup is Andy Farrell - he actually said that's what we're here for, isn't it?
I'm shocked and embarrassed.
You’re not fooling anyone.
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@kiwiinmelb said in Who do you think will win the Rugby World Cup 2023?:
For the last couple of years I’ve thought France are the team but now it’s here I’m not sure anymore
based on this morning, I think you are right.
Right now, it is SA or Ireland, both play a simple smart game designed to win the grind, and the latter in particular are more disiplined (or at least appear so)
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@taniwharugby Boks have the simplest game plan, the forward resources to dominate, backs to attack when it is on and most importantly, they don’t give many penalties away. Their flaws - they have a fair number of players 30+ which can take its toll. But when you can swap your pack mid game, they aren’t being overplayed. And they are missing a dead eye goal kicker. At the point end, it may cost them.
