1(1) SOUTH AFRICA 90.98
2(2) NEW ZEALAND 89.42
3(3) AUSTRALIA 86.06
4(4) IRELAND 83.27
5(5) FRANCE 81.48
6(6) ARGENTINA 81.29
7(7) ENGLAND 81.23
8(8) WALES 80.74
9(9) FIJI 76.52
10(10) SCOTLAND 75.23

1 NEW ZEALAND 94.59
2 FRANCE 85.87
3 AUSTRALIA 85.50
4 SOUTH AFRICA 84.69
5 IRELAND 84.67
6 ARGENTINA 79.07
7 ENGLAND 78.61
8 WALES 76.87
9 SCOTLAND 76.73
10 SAMOA 73.72

and as you can see they were no use whatsoever in predicting the result. Clearly it was a slow news day and you just had to post something Spiros.

19. Kieron Dawson 67′
17. Tom Court 52′
21. Niall O’Connor 72′
18. Matt McCullough 69′
20. Isaac Boss 52′
22. Mark McCrea 69′

Maybe you are referring to Tom Court who replaced Fitzpatrick at No 1. He plays for Ulster as a tighthead and loosehead prop. Court was born in Brisbane, Australia and began his sporting career as a shotputte]. He was Australian University Champion for three years running and had Olympic trials in 2002. He started playing rugby in 2004 and has represented Manawatu and Queensland Reds as well as Ulster.
He represented Ireland A in 2006 Churchill Cup before he had played his first game for Ulster. He qualifies to play international rugby for Ireland through his grandfather, who was born in County Limerick. He was also played as sub in the 2008 Churchill Cup squad. He made his full Ireland debut in an uncapped match against The Barbarians at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester.

Who gets first and second is more open to debate. I’d reckon NZ will want to get off to a cracking start and if France is their first match, they should win it. Unless SA go downhill before 2011, they should win out over Wales. Ireland and Australia is more difficult to call – their last WC matches have been settled by a point. Ireland could beat them. For England and Argentina the result may get decided by their results against Scotland, rather than each other.

Anyway, it’s three years off. Lots to play for, and seedings to be changed. And they will.

In fact the whole Asutralian team played with aggression the whole game. Where was this during the year ? It was absolutely fantastic. Lote was in there belting people (legally) and doing all the right things..McCaw got belted by Chisholm..who would have thought ? In fact if you had to compare McCaw with Smith, Smith without a doubt got the better of McCaw on the night.

AAC played brilliantly at inside -c attack and in defence, shame he wasnt given that opportunity early in the year. No aimless kicks from him last night.

It was a shame about the uncontested scrums.

Probably my fav Wallaby game of the year and considering it was full of young guys as the englsih commentators said it really holds well for Aus rugby future. ..but before i get ahead of myself, one game doesnt make a season.

The game this morning was a cracker and showed the sort of game from the Wallabies you’d have seen against Wales with a less suppressive referee performance. Sure the kicking was excessive and frequently erratic but the commitment was relentless and total from the entire team. FULL-ON

Did we miss Gits? I don’t think so. This sort of game plan allowed Quade Cooper to replace him effectively. It also made me appreciate Cooper’s ability and add him to Beale and Barnes as better candidates for 10.

Adam A-C showed what a fantastic talent he is when not asked to kick all the time, and Drew Mitchell took up where he left off against Wales with some beautiful, beautiful lines and steps, ball in hand. YYYYAAAYYY!!!

Lote too showed he’s still got passion. Maybe Robbie can convince him to watch Drew and run not ‘at’ but ‘by’ opposing players without taking his foot off the gas. He doesn’t realise how big he is!

George was great. Is he bionic? ……………………….Roll on 2009. ………..MERRY CHRISTMAS Mr. DEANS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MZEzR_93ZA

Spiro, nice article but that comment puzzles me. Who would you rate as a better team in the last World Cup that England and South Africa. Surely not NZ, Australia or France as they all lost?

Who Needs Melon – O’Connor went amazingly well at full back when you consider what was involved in that game and his age. Maybe he could make it there as he has a good kick on him and runs and steps well as we already knew. Putting him at centre, as you say, puts him up against too much competition and we are short of full backs. This kid could do anything.

Worlds Biggest – Yes it was an absolute treat to watch the back row battles that went on, it was a game within a game. Collins doesnt seem to be missing much in impact or speed. Pity my dvd recorder is on the blink and I dont have a copy of the game. Would love to watch it again.

Certainly NOT a classic BABA’s game more of a test match. The most enjoyable game (from an Aussie point of view) this year. Bring on the future guys it looks pretty rosy at the moment.

One point Spiro neglects to make is that the RWC has never been won by a team that has lost in pool play. Thus while pool matches are not elimination matches, one might argue that de facto they are. It will be interesting to see if there is any media hype over this point in the buildup to the NZ-France pool clash in 2011, which is likely to be the tournament’s opening match.

I haven’t seen the game yet but happy we won and some of the young uns went well.

No shock that AAC had a good game in the centres where he belongs.

Regarding O’Connor, he played at fullback didn’t he? I think in S14 he was playing as a centre. Where do you think he will end up? As a centre, he obviously has some tough competition in Barnes and Giteau yet we seem to be in need of a decent fullback. Does he have the kicking game required?

Can’t wait to see the game.

Cheers.

No replay on 10. And Fox didn’t pick it up because it wasn’t a sanctioned test match.

A big wrap needs to go to Mark Chisholm who, at one point in the first half, seemed to be making every tackle within our 22.

The Burger/McCaw combo was truly awesome to behold, though.

I didn’t even think to check Channel 10. I think after I watched the Italy Wallabies game with that atrocious English commentator that I hot wired my TV to never get channel 10 again.

Does anyone remember? He called Dunning the world’s best prop. Constantly referred to the Australian’s playing Super 12, and said that Australia has the best tactical kickers in the world – despite Burgess having I think three kicks charged in the first half.

He also said it was a shame Mark Ella wasn’t selected for the game, and that David Campese should be on the bench (OK, I made that last bit up).

Dissapointed though, must have been a shining game.

But then really, who wakes up at 6 AM?

McCaw, Burger and Collins were everywhere and it took a guts effort to stop them particularly Collins. Steyn killed the game for the Baba’s and I was surprised that White didnt pull him. Habana played his normal great game but was kept under control. One tackle when I thought he was away was around his bootlaces and it was Pocock who picked him up on the touchline before he had totally lit the after-burners. Great tackle by Pocock.

James Mortimer – It was on FTA Ch 10 at 6am. They may do a replay but dont count on it. Not bad coverage either, much beter than Ch 7 was.