Rugby World Cup: Quarterfinals

[Scrumhalf]

It's win or go home time in the Rugby World Cup and I can't wait for the action to start this weekend. Here are my predictions:

New Zealand vs. France:
This is a game for the All Blacks to lose. There is no way for France to be even close if NZ plays high percentage rugby. France I am sure will be looking to get a couple of dazzling scores and upset the confidence of the All Blacks but I think Graham's Henry's boys have a bit too much steel for that these days. They are back to the old fashioned All Blacks virtues of brutal forward play, relentless aggression at the scrums and the breakdowns and of course the trademark running game. I don't see this being even close.

England vs. Australia:

I think Australia will win, but it is going to be closer than most people think. The Aussies have been shooting their mouths off all week and I expect (and hope) that England will have a burr up their backside as a result.

South Africa vs. Fiji:

Fiji's fairytale will come to an end. The Boks are playing very well right now and seem to be peaking right on time. I rate them as the most dangerous team (other than the All Blacks, of course).

Argentina vs. Scotland:

How can one root against Argentina? They are certainly my favorite team now in the tournament. The Pumas are going to win this match and be in the semifinals for the 1st time. This is a seismic shift in the world rugby order.

MY PREDICTION: For the 1st time, the semifinals are going to be an all-Southern Hemisphere affair! Wow!!!

[Mr I]

I think those are fair predictions SH but this is a world cup and its knock out time don't forget. Now its a bit like UFC, you know who should win.. but then something unpredictable can happen

Argentina have been a real suprise, just ask the French LOL!, however Scotland can turn it on and they have a great kicker.

England (previous world cup winners) should be coming on strong now after their earlier lacklustre performances, they have made up with wins over Samoa and Tonga.

I have beers in the fridge ready!

[Scrumhalf]

Yep, I'm rooting for England. It's time for the bulldog to show up and send the Aussies back down under (sorry redback :))

[Mr I]

See what I mean?

[Mr I]

Pretty close huh?

England certainly came thru in the end

[Scrumhalf]

Pretty amazing - I wasn't predicting either of these teams to come anywhere close to what they did!

[Bouncer]

Where are you watching this at Scrumhalf? I cant find it anywhere on tv.

[Scrumhalf]

I didn't watch it - just read about it. It was available on PPV but I really didn't want to spend the money.

[Bouncer]

it is BS that we cant view it for free on tv. we have a million channels of nothing and we still cant watch this.

[Scrumhalf]

Right... that really sucked. A while ago, the channel known as Fox Sports World used to show all the big rugby games - the Trinations between New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, and the 5 Nations between England, Wales, Scotland, France and Italy, as well as other games from the national leagues. Then Fox Sports World changed into the Fox Soccer Channel, focusing mostly on soccer and stopped showing rugby games. For the world cup, the International Rugby Board gave the broadcast rights for the US to some outfit called Setanta Sports, only available on Dish Network and DirecTV as PPV channels.