2019 Rugby World Cup predictions

[Sweetbtc]

Most of the matches which i saw in rugby world cup till now are one sided ones. Same goes for the on-going match between ARG and TGA. TGA is losing this match by 7 - 28 and this is another example of a boring match. Maybe as the tournament progresses, we may see a close finishes.

Argentina is currently leading by 28-12, and I won't regard this match as an one sided affair. Tonga is not a very strong side, but they put 100% effort in to this game and gave a good fight to Argentina. BTW, we have the Namibia vs South Africa match later today, and I expect it to be really close (although South Africa is one of the tournament favorites).

I agree that there were a number of one-sided matches so far in this tournament. But at the same time, we had one big upset (Uruguay defeating Fiji by a margin of 30-27). Considering the limited geographic reach of rugby as a sport, we can expect wide discrepancy in the skill levels between various nations. So one sided matches are expected, at least during the group phase. Still I would say that they did the right thing by expanding the world cup to 20 teams, rather than limiting it to a handful of nations (similar to what the cricket world cup has become).

Probably the match between Uruguay and Fiji was the only one which got a lot of attention and interest. It turned out to be a thriller.
For today's match i love the way Tonga played but scoring wise it was still another one sided world cup match.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Everyone expected Namibia to give a good fight against South Africa, and in the end we got the most one sided match of the tournament so far. South Africa mopped the floor with their African neighbors, and won by a record 57-3 margin. Very difficult to believe that it was the same Namibian side which gave such a tough fight to Italy. The highlights of the match can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvI7jxkWZhM

[JohnBitCo]

Most of the matches which i saw in rugby world cup till now are one sided ones. Same goes for the on-going match between ARG and TGA. TGA is losing this match by 7 - 28 and this is another example of a boring match. Maybe as the tournament progresses, we may see a close finishes.

Argentina is currently leading by 28-12, and I won't regard this match as an one sided affair. Tonga is not a very strong side, but they put 100% effort in to this game and gave a good fight to Argentina. BTW, we have the Namibia vs South Africa match later today, and I expect it to be really close (although South Africa is one of the tournament favorites).

I agree that there were a number of one-sided matches so far in this tournament. But at the same time, we had one big upset (Uruguay defeating Fiji by a margin of 30-27). Considering the limited geographic reach of rugby as a sport, we can expect wide discrepancy in the skill levels between various nations. So one sided matches are expected, at least during the group phase. Still I would say that they did the right thing by expanding the world cup to 20 teams, rather than limiting it to a handful of nations (similar to what the cricket world cup has become).

Probably the match between Uruguay and Fiji was the only one which got a lot of attention and interest. It turned out to be a thriller.
For today's match i love the way Tonga played but scoring wise it was still another one sided world cup match.

Although Uruguay played brilliant against Fuji, they have not started well today against Georgia and have been missing the ball. Remember this match is crucial for both teams as the current points of Uruguay is 4 and Georgia is 0 and a win can really make them stay in the race of qualifying to the next round.
Australia and wales are currently at the top of pool D with 5 points each.

[yoseph]

Though I am not a Rugby fan nor understand the whole game, I have heard that the hosts of the Rugby Union World Cup Japan are performing excellently in the competition having won all two games against Russia and surprisingly against Ireland as well, am sure there performance will bring a boost for Japanese to become more interested in the sports.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Though I am not a Rugby fan nor understand the whole game, I have heard that the hosts of the Rugby Union World Cup Japan are performing excellently in the competition having won all two games against Russia and surprisingly against Ireland as well, am sure there performance will bring a boost for Japanese to become more interested in the sports.

Yes.. it was a real upset. No one expected Ireland (one of the top sides) to go down against Japan. A few months back, Ireland was ranked no.1 and as far as I know, Japan has never managed to find a slot among the top 10. Very difficult to believe that this was the same Ireland side that destroyed Scotland a few days back (27-3). Now Japan is very likely to qualify for the quarter-finals.

[JohnBitCo]

Though I am not a Rugby fan nor understand the whole game, I have heard that the hosts of the Rugby Union World Cup Japan are performing excellently in the competition having won all two games against Russia and surprisingly against Ireland as well, am sure there performance will bring a boost for Japanese to become more interested in the sports.

Yes.. it was a real upset. No one expected Ireland (one of the top sides) to go down against Japan. A few months back, Ireland was ranked no.1 and as far as I know, Japan has never managed to find a slot among the top 10. Very difficult to believe that this was the same Ireland side that destroyed Scotland a few days back (27-3). Now Japan is very likely to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Yes Japan tops the Pool A with 9 points and they have not lost a single match yet. Remember that Japan has a good history of playing good in the world cup which held in their country. Previously in 2002, they hosted the Fifa world cup and surprised every one by reaching the semi finals of the world cup. This time around they are ready to give another surprise with their performance in Rugby.

[bryant.coleman]

Though I am not a Rugby fan nor understand the whole game, I have heard that the hosts of the Rugby Union World Cup Japan are performing excellently in the competition having won all two games against Russia and surprisingly against Ireland as well, am sure there performance will bring a boost for Japanese to become more interested in the sports.

Even though it's not a Japanese nationality, the interest in sports cannot be forced to each and everyone. Any country will always a potential excellent players of rugby, so their country men will always be proud of their legacy and love of this sport will arise.

Someone already made a post here confirming that more than half of the Japanese players are of foreign origin. This increases their chances of a good performance, but at the same time the lack of native players may adversely impact the popularity of the sport among the general population. I have no issues with 2-3 foreign players in the squad. But having a majority foreign side is not good, IMO.

BTW, we had another one sided match today, with Scotland destroying Samoa 34-0. I was surprised because Samoa is not a very weak side. They regularly participate in the world cup, and they have a few past upsets to their name. And on top of that, Scotland had suffered a humiliating defeat from Ireland just a few days back (27-3). Japan is currently on the top with 9 points in Pool A. Ireland is second with 6 and Scotland and Samoa are trailing with 5 each.

[Saint-loup]

Though I am not a Rugby fan nor understand the whole game, I have heard that the hosts of the Rugby Union World Cup Japan are performing excellently in the competition having won all two games against Russia and surprisingly against Ireland as well, am sure there performance will bring a boost for Japanese to become more interested in the sports.

Yes that's unbelievable! Gamblers who bet on Japan should be rich now 
BTW tomorrow Japan will play against Samoa what do you think? I think it's a pretty sure bet.
Another one is Australia vs Uruguay.
But for England vs Argentina, it's a little bit more difficult to predict the outcome.

[Vishnu.Reang]

This tournament is getting boring now. We are having too many one sided matches, back to back. Two days back New Zealand whacked Canada 63-0. And yesterday Fiji mopped the floor with Georgia (45-10) and Ireland destroyed Russia (35-0). And today we had another one sided match, with South Africa defeating Italy 49-3. I can't wait for the next round. I hope it will be more competitive. 

[JohnBitCo]

This tournament is getting boring now. We are having too many one sided matches, back to back. Two days back New Zealand whacked Canada 63-0. And yesterday Fiji mopped the floor with Georgia (45-10) and Ireland destroyed Russia (35-0). And today we had another one sided match, with South Africa defeating Italy 49-3. I can't wait for the next round. I hope it will be more competitive.  

The next round will only starts from 19 October . Till then we have to see these one sided matches. But there is one good thing for the gamblers as they can sure shot win their bets on strong teams.
So far Pool D is interesting one and still it is not sure who will qualify from that pool. Wales and Fiji are on top two positions but Australia and Georgia have equal chances.

[virasog]

This tournament is getting boring now. We are having too many one sided matches, back to back.

I do not think so that the tournament is boring. Which country are you representing in this world cup ? If your country is winning you must be enjoying it.  Also you can see the jam pack stadiums in all the matches and enthusiasm in the players nd crowd is just fantastic. The scoring line may disappoint but if you are rugby lover, this is the best one and a half month of matches to enjoy.

[Saint-loup]

Though I am not a Rugby fan nor understand the whole game, I have heard that the hosts of the Rugby Union World Cup Japan are performing excellently in the competition having won all two games against Russia and surprisingly against Ireland as well, am sure there performance will bring a boost for Japanese to become more interested in the sports.

Yes that's unbelievable! Gamblers who bet on Japan should be rich now  
BTW tomorrow Japan will play against Samoa what do you think? I think it's a pretty sure bet.
Another one is Australia vs Uruguay.
But for England vs Argentina, it's a little bit more difficult to predict the outcome.

As expected Japan remains undefeated :
Japan Samoa 38-19
Australia was also an easy predictable win
Australia Uruguay 45-10
For England Argentina I expected a more tight score
England Argentina 39-10

[Vishnu.Reang]

This tournament is getting boring now. We are having too many one sided matches, back to back.

I do not think so that the tournament is boring. Which country are you representing in this world cup ? If your country is winning you must be enjoying it.  Also you can see the jam pack stadiums in all the matches and enthusiasm in the players nd crowd is just fantastic. The scoring line may disappoint but if you are rugby lover, this is the best one and a half month of matches to enjoy.

Well.. my country failed to qualify for the tournament. Rugby is not a very popular sport here in India and this time India didn't even sent a squad for the Asian round of qualification. World Rugby has spent a lot of money in India, but the returns were quite low. But at the same time, I don't want India to import players from South Africa and Oceania and qualify with their help (similar to what Japan has done). It will be better if we could qualify on our own.

BTW, I did enjoyed some of the matches. One example was the Uruguay vs Fiji match.

[JohnBitCo]

This tournament is getting boring now. We are having too many one sided matches, back to back.

I do not think so that the tournament is boring. Which country are you representing in this world cup ? If your country is winning you must be enjoying it.  Also you can see the jam pack stadiums in all the matches and enthusiasm in the players nd crowd is just fantastic. The scoring line may disappoint but if you are rugby lover, this is the best one and a half month of matches to enjoy.

Well.. my country failed to qualify for the tournament. Rugby is not a very popular sport here in India and this time India didn't even sent a squad for the Asian round of qualification. World Rugby has spent a lot of money in India, but the returns were quite low. But at the same time, I don't want India to import players from South Africa and Oceania and qualify with their help (similar to what Japan has done). It will be better if we could qualify on our own.

BTW, I did enjoyed some of the matches. One example was the Uruguay vs Fiji match.

I think there are no Asian Teams (other than Japan) who play Rugby. Maybe because it requires a very strong physique which normally asians do not have.
More interesting world cup matches are yet to follow. The knock out stages will start from next Saturday and the teams which have already qualified for the quarterfinals are England, Australia, Wales, NewZealand, Russia and France. The other two teams are yet to be selected.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I think there are no Asian Teams (other than Japan) who play Rugby. Maybe because it requires a very strong physique which normally asians do not have.
More interesting world cup matches are yet to follow. The knock out stages will start from next Saturday and the teams which have already qualified for the quarterfinals are England, Australia, Wales, NewZealand, Russia and France. The other two teams are yet to be selected.

Even the Japanese team is mostly comprised of expats. There are players from South Africa, Australia and Oceania in their team. But still it is a good way to improve the quality. By playing together with these players, the quality of the local players will also improve. Apart from Japan (ranked 10th globally), South Korea (31 in global ranking) and Hong Kong (ranked 24th) also have strong sides from Asia.

[JohnBitCo]

I think there are no Asian Teams (other than Japan) who play Rugby. Maybe because it requires a very strong physique which normally asians do not have.
More interesting world cup matches are yet to follow. The knock out stages will start from next Saturday and the teams which have already qualified for the quarterfinals are England, Australia, Wales, NewZealand, Russia and France. The other two teams are yet to be selected.

Even the Japanese team is mostly comprised of expats. There are players from South Africa, Australia and Oceania in their team. But still it is a good way to improve the quality. By playing together with these players, the quality of the local players will also improve. Apart from Japan (ranked 10th globally), South Korea (31 in global ranking) and Hong Kong (ranked 24th) also have strong sides from Asia.

This is the first world cup which is held in Asia. This shows that Asia region is not very popular for rugby. Even the Asia Rugby Championship doesn't have any impact on increasing the demand for this sports in this region.

[bryant.coleman]

There was a major upset in the ongoing rugby world cup, as Japan knocked out one of the favorites (Scotland). The hosts won by 28-21. The win enabled Japan to progress to the quarter finals, which is a huge achievement for any Asian team. Their quarter final match is scheduled for Sunday and it will be against one of the highest ranking teams (South Africa). The chances are very low for another upset, as South Africa may prove too strong for them. But who knows? You can't rule out the upsets.

[ruthwithers1980]

Who would have thought Japan's rugby team would reach the Quarter Finals? Congrats to Team Japan!

[Last of the V8s]

Seem to remember the coach for the Japan side that beat South Africa whenever it was, 2015?, he said sth to the effect of: the beauty of coaching Japanese players is that they do what you tell them to do.
May not seem much or seem weird, but I think he was saying that quite often players think too much, try and react too much and forget their drills and lines. Not every 18 stone whizz is also blessed with a rugby brain.
That coach is afaiu now coaching England who have mountains to climb.
Congratulations to the Japanese Rugby Team.
Many many condolences to the Japanese nation in their latest disaster. Your forethought and now your resilience are inspirational.

[Indymoney]

Who would have thought Japan's rugby team would reach the Quarter Finals? Congrats to Team Japan!

Japan is in quarterfinal its not upset as they already done good job in last few tournaments and now they are playing home with this advantage we can expect they can reach in last eight now 19 October first quarterfinal is going to played between England vs Australia its going to be very good contest even England is hot favorite for winning this and in second one New Zealand vs Ireland its also going to be one sided.